WILLIAM  MYCAJAH  CLARKE 


LIBRARY  OF 

ARCHITECTURE  AND 

ALLIED  ARTS 


Gift  of 


WILLIAM  M.  CIAEKE 


A   BOOK   OF    ENGLISH    GARDENS 


A  BOOK   OF   ENGLISH 
GARDENS 


WRITTEN     .     .     . 
BY    M.    R.    GLOAG 
ILLUSTRATED 
BY     KATHARINE 
MONTAGU    WYATT 


NEW   YORK 

THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1906 


Architecture  & 
Urban  Planning 
Library 


DEDICATED 

TO 
MARY,  COUNTESS  OF  ILCHESTER 

BY 
KATHARINE  MONTAGU  WVATT 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

MANY    HAPPY    HOURS 

SPENT  IN  HER 

GARDEN 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.  ON  GARDENS              ......          I 

II.  ABBOTSBURY,   DORSETSHIRE              .                                             -45 

III.  ALBURY,   SURREY      ......        57 

IV.  AMPTHILL  PARK,   BEDFORDSHIRE.                .               .                .69 

V.  ASHRIDGE,   BUCKINGHAMSHIRE       .                .               .               -85 

VI.  BECKETT,   BERKSHIRE           .               .               .               .               .II? 

VII.  BROWNSEA   ISLAND,  DORSETSHIRE               .               .               -135 

VIII.  COTTAGE  GARDENS.               .               .               .             '•,„;,;;        .      155 

IX.  HAM   HOUSE,   SURREY             .               .               .                               -175 

X.  HATFIELD  HOUSE,   HERTFORDSHIRE           .               .               -195 

XI.  HOLLAND   HOUSE,   KENSINGTON      ....      2IQ 

XII.  HUTTON  JOHN,   CUMBERLAND          .               .               .               .24! 

XIII.  KNOLE,   KENT              .               .               .               .               .                .      257 

XIV.     A  MODERN  GARDEN,   SURREY          »  .  (  .     285 

XV.  SUTTON   PLACE,   SURREY      ...                               -295 

XVI.  WREST   PARK,   BEDFORDSHIRE          .               .                               .      319 

INDEX  .  .      336 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

THE  DUTCH   GARDEN,   HOLLAND  HOUSE    .  .  Frontispiece 

FALCONERI   RHODODENDRONS,  ABBOTSBURY  .  .        48 

THE  TERRACE,   ALBURY       .  .  .  .  .  .64 

THE  EAST  GARDEN,   AMPTHILL      .  .  .  .  -72 

THE  MONKS  GARDEN,  ASHRIDGE  .  .  .  90 

THE  GARDEN   HOUSE,   BECKETT     .  .  .  .  .      I2O 

THE  WALL  FOUNTAIN,   BROWNSEA  .  .  .  .140 

THE  TERRACE,  BROWNSEA  .  .  .  .  .142 

A  COTTAGE  GARDEN,   ISLE  OF  WIGHT       .  .  .  .      1 68 

THE  ORANGERY,  HAM   HOUSE        .  .  .  .  .      1 86 

FATHER  THAMES,  HAM  HOUSE       .  .  .  .  .      1 88 

THE  TERRACE  BORDER,   HAM   HOUSE        .  ,  .  .190 

THE  PLEACHED  ALLEY,   HATFIELD  .  .  .      •  2O2 

THE  VINEYARD,  HATFIELD  .  •  «  .  .214 

THE  JAPANESE  GARDEN,   HOLLAND  HOUSE  .  .  .234 

THE  YEWS,   HUTTON  JOHN  .....     2$O 

THE  LAVENDER   GARDEN,   KNOLE  ....     276 


xii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

RHODODENDRONS,  KNOLE .  .....     282 

THE  TERRACE.     A  MODERN  GARDEN         .  .  .  .288 

HERBACEOUS  BORDERS.      A  MODERN  GARDEN     .  .  .      2Q2 

THE  WALL  ARBOUR,  SUTTON  PLACE          ....      300 

TREE-PEONY,  WREST  .  .  .      "".    .  .  "         .  .  ;     _._,.  ;  .      325 

THE  BOWLING  GREEN  HOUSE,  WREST       .  .  .  -332 

LILY  POOL,  WREST.  .  .  -334 


ON  GARDENS 


Written 

With  a  love  of  all  flowers, 
A  devotion  to  all  Garden  beauties. 
An  admiration  for  all  the  Makers  of  Beautiful  Gardens. 
And  an  everlasting  gratitude  to  those  who  have  left  the 

charm  of  their  Presence  for  ever  in  the  Gardens  of  the 

Past  and  the  Present. 


A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 


ON   GARDENS 

ARDENS  and  houses  of  Pleasure,"  for  such 
Gardens  have  been  to  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men,  each  in  his  own  way  falling  under  their 
spell.  Philosophers  have  discoursed  of  wisdom  and 
happiness  in  Gardens — "As  for  myself,"  says 
Epicurus  (called  the  philosopher  of  the  Garden), 
"  truly  I  am  not  only  well  content,  but  highly 
pleased  with  the  Plants  and  Fruits  growing  in 
these  my  own  little  Gardens." 

Statesmen,  after  gaining  a  country's  gratitude, 
have  retired  for  a  well-earned  rest  to  their  Gardens, 
and  artists  ever  delight  in  their  gorgeous  blossoms 
and  restful  quiet,  as  well  as  poets,  who  have 
loved,  from  Omar  onward,  to  sing  of  "  Rose 
spring-laden  Gardens "  ;  while  fashionable  wits, 
like  Horace  Walpole,  and  learned  divines,  have 


4  A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

more  than  enough  to  tell  of  the  making  of 
Gardens. 

Thus  it  goes  on  from  the  day  "  God  planted  a 
garden  eastward  of  Eden  ;  and  there  He  put  the 
man  whom  He  had  formed  "  ;  and  ever  since  the 
cultivation  of  a  Garden  has  been  the  simplest  and 
most  pleasing  of  man's  pleasures — "for  Gardens 
were  before  Gardeners,  and  but  some  hours  after 
the  earth." 

Egypt  can  claim  the  earliest  historical  Garden. 
"  Gardens  are  frequently  represented  in  the  tombs 
of  Thebes  and  other  parts  of  Egypt,"  and  much 
that  was  claimed  as  a  novelty  at  a  later  date  was 
already  to  be  found  in  these  pictures. 

Imagination  easily  pictures  the  grandeur  of  the 
hanging  Gardens  of  Babylon,  built  by  "a  prince 
called  Cyrus  for  a  beautiful  courtesan,  who,  being 
a  Persian,  coveted  a  meadow  upon  a  mountain- 
top,"  in  imitation  of  her  own  land.  These  Gardens 
were  constructed  in  a  curious  manner — terraces, 
thickly  covered  with  earth,  and  forming  terraced 
groves  with  fountains  and  masses  of  trees  to  give 
shade. 

King  Solomon,  who  in  his  wisdom  overlooked 
nothing  great  or  small  in  this  world,  did  not  forget 
to  praise  the  glories  of  a  Garden,  nor  to  record  his 
love  thereof.  Perhaps  no  one  among  the  great 
number  who  have  written  about  "  Gardens  fair  " 
has  sung  more  exquisitely  than  the  great  king  in 


ON  GARDENS  5 

his  beautiful  love-poem.  The  finger  of  the  un- 
changing East  has  been  laid  upon  the  Gardens  of 
Persia,  and  they  remain  now  very  much  the  same 
as  they  have  always  been.  The  Persians,  accord- 
ing to  Xenophon,  "cultivated  their  Gardens  for 
beauty  as  well  as  fruit,"  and  Pliny  mentions  that 
"the  trees  were  planted  in  straight  lines,  and  the 
margins  of  the  walks  were  covered  with  tufts  of 
Roses,  Violets,  and  other  odoriferous  plants." 

The  Greeks  copied  from  the  Persians  their 
manner  of  making  Gardens.  Theophrastus  men- 
tions that  "  flowers  and  fruit  were  cultivated  in  the 
winter,  and  the  Violet  was  in  profusion  in  the 
market  at  Athens  while  snow  was  upon  the 
ground." 

There  were  many  celebrated  Roman  Gardens — 
that  of  Tarquinius  Superbus  is  mentioned  in  history 
as  early  as  534  B.C.  Unfortunately,  little  is  known 
about  it  save  that  it  was  beside  the  palace  "  within 
the  walls  of  the  city,  and  was  filled  with  a  profusion 
of  Roses,  Poppies,  Lilies,  and  sweet-smelling 
Herbs."  Amongst  the  many  other  beautiful  Roman 
Gardens  were  the  magnificent  ones  of  Lucullus  on 
the  promontory  of  Misenum,  those  of  Sallust,  and 
the  famous  villa  of  Cicero  at  Arpinum.  But  the 
Gardens  of  Pliny  are  of  most  interest,  because  they 
can  be  clearly  pictured  to-day  from  his  marvellously 
minute  descriptions.  From  these  descriptions  it 
can  be  gathered  that  the  style  of  Pliny's  villa 


6  A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

gave  the  keynote  to  design  in  Gardening  till  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  Mounts,  the 
Terraces,  the  Walks  edged  with  Box,  the  Shrubs 
cut  into  different  shapes,  the  Fountains,  and  the 
little  flower  Gardens  with  the  Alleys  and  Summer- 
houses,  bear  a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  French 
and  Dutch  Gardens  of  later  date. 

As  Horace  Walpole  remarks,  "All  the  in- 
gredients of  Pliny's  corresponded  exactly  with  those 
laid  out  by  London  and  Wise  on  Dutch  principles. 
He  talks  of  slopes,  terraces,  a  wilderness,  shrubs 
methodically  trimmed,  a  marble  basin  .  .  .  Bay 
Trees  alternately  planted  with  Planes  .  .  .  and 
hedges  of  Box ;  there  wants  nothing  but  the 
embroidery  of  a  parterre,  to  make  a  Garden  in  the 
reign  of  Trajan  serve  for  a  description  of  one 
in  that  of  King  William." 

Strangely  enough,  not  only  was  the  formal  style 
in  Gardening  heralded  in  these  early  times,  but  the 
Gardens  of  the  Emperor  Nero  bore  a  great  likeness 
to  the  style  of  an  English  Park,  and  many  people 
consider  that  the  modern  Irregular  School  of 
Gardening  is  as  old  as  that  of  the  Regular 
Symmetrical  style. 

Clearly  from  the  Romans  came  many  interesting 
Garden  features.  They  made  a  special  study  of 
odoriferous  trees,  planting  those  which  would  blend 
best  together  to  form  the  choicest  aroma,  thus 
remembering  that  beauty  of  colour  and  charm  of 


ON  GARDENS  7 

effect   were   not   all    that   was   to  be  desired  in   a 
Garden. 

The  Quincunx  mode  of  planting  trees  was  also 
known  and  adapted  by  the  Romans,  and  is  dwelt 
upon  much  later  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne  "as  the 
Quincuncial  Lozenge,  or  Net-work  Plantations  of 
the  Ancients "  in  his  book  "  The  Gardens  of 
Cyrus,"  so  delightfully  alluded  to  by  Pater  in  his 
"  Appreciations." 

It  was  one  Matius,  Martial  says,  who  first  intro- 
duced the  clipping  of  trees  into  various  shapes, 
thus  becoming  the  creator  of  Topiary  work,  the 
merits  of  which  became  such  a  vexed  question 
in  after-years  and  gave  rise  to  endless  vehement 
discussions  on  Art  versus  Nature.  The  cinders 
of  this  controversy  are  still  smouldering,  and 
need  but  a  spark  at  any  moment  to  burst  into 
flame.  This  Topiary  work  brought  another 
art  into  the  Garden — the  fashion  for  Statues  and 
Fountains — the  dark,  clipped  trees  offering  a 
perfect  background  for  the  dull  white  Statuary, 
and  the  Fountains,  with  their  ripple  of  running 
water,  added  to  the  effect. 

Flowers  in  the  Gardens  of  the  Romans  were 
never  a  necessity  of  the  arrangement.  Very  un- 
like a  modern  English  Garden  where  the  Garden 
is  nothing  without  the  flowers ;  in  fact,  the  flowers 
create  the  Garden  ! 

Under    the    Roman   kings    flowers    were    very 


8  A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

rare,  but  they  became  a  luxury  under  Augustus, 
and  though  never  grown  in  profusion,  were 
cultivated  for  use  at  feasts  and  for  garlands. 
Heliogabalus  carried  this  fashion  to  the  length 
of  having  his  apartments  strewn  ankle-deep  with 
flowers. 

England  owes,  like  many  greater  gifts,  her  first 
Gardens  to  these  wonderful  Romans — so  practical, 
yet  such  artists  in  the  treatment  of  all  they  touched  ; 
possessing  great  knowledge,  which  included  even 
little  tricks  in  Gardening  often  claimed  as  quite 
modern. 

Before  the  Roman  Conquest,  Gardens  were 
unknown  in  England.  "  The  people  of  Britain," 
writes  Strabo,  "are  generally  ignorant  of  the  art 
of  cultivating  Gardens."  The  English  climate 
was  praised  by  Tacitus,  who  declared  it  to  be 
suitable  for  all  vegetables  except  the  Vine  and  the 
Olive.  But  the  Emperor  Probus  urged  the  plant- 
ing of  the  former,  and  the  fact  of  the  Vine  being 
grown  is  mentioned  by  Bede  in  the  beginning  of 
the  eighth  century.  The  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire 
caused  the  loss  of  all  the  knowledge  gained  in  the 
art  of  Gardening,  in  England  as  well  as  elsewhere 
in  Europe  ;  and  horticulture  and  all  pertaining  to 
it  fell  into  the  monks'  hands,  for  such  a  quiet, 
peaceful  pleasure  had  no  place  in  the  lives  of 
the  people  during  those  troublous  times.  Fortu- 
nately, the  monks,  in  their  retired  and  sheltered 


ON  GARDENS  9 

life,  had  both  time  and  inclination  to  turn  their 
attention  to  horticulture,  tending  with  infinite 
skill  and  care  their  quaint  Physic  Gardens.  These 
marvellous  monastic  Gardens  were  possessed  by 
men  of  learning,  who  had  intercourse  with  foreign 
Orders,  and  were  thus  enabled  constantly  to  add 
to  their  stock  of  "  Simples,"  their  Gardens  being 
chiefly  cultivated  for  the  growth  of  vegetables 
and  herbs  used  for  drugs  ;  for,  as  learning  and 
love  of  books  gradually  crept  within  the  grasp 
of  rich  and  poor  through  the  monks,  so  did  the 
power  and  value  of  herbs  as  medicine  become 
known  by  their  skill. 

The  earliest  actual  record  in  England  of 
monastic  Gardens  is  in  the  eleventh  century, 
though  they  must  have  existed  at  a  much  earlier 
date. 

The  Saxon  people  did  not  take  to  Gardening  as 
quickly  as  their  French  neighbours,  and  without 
doubt  William  the  Conqueror  gave  a  great 
impetus  to  horticulture,  and  many  French  fruits 
and  herbs  were  introduced  into  England  by  him 
and  his  countrymen. 

The  first  Englishman  who  wrote  upon  Gardens 
was  the  fascinating  Alexander  Neckam,  born  1157, 
foster  brother  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion.  Educated 
at  St.  Albans,  he  went  when  very  young  to  Paris, 
where  he  became  a  celebrated  professor  at  the 
university.  In  1213,  he  was  made  Abbot  of  the 


10          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Augustinians  at  Cirencester,  dying  four  years  later. 
Neckam's  precious  document,  "  De  Naturis  rerum  " 
("  Of  the  Natures  of  Things "),  gives  a  most 
interesting  description  of  "a  noble  Garden,"  though 
by  the  best  authorities  his  account  is  considered 
rhetorical.  "  The  Garden,"  he  declares,  "  should  be 
adorned  with  Roses  and  Lilies,  Violets  and  Man- 
drake, and  the  drowsy  Poppy,  the  Daffodil  all  en- 
noble a  garden."  Of  fruits,  Neckam  says:  "A 
noble  garden  will  give  thee  also  Medlars,  Quinces, 
Warden  -  trees,  Peaches,  Pears,  Pomegranates, 
Lemons,  Oranges,  and  Almonds."  As  can  be  seen 
from  this  list,  Neckam  was  apt  to  draw  upon  his 
imagination,  as  many  of  these  fruits  could  never 
have  braved  the  climate  of  England,  though 
possibly  he  may  have  seen  them  brought  to  the 
monastic  Garden  at  Cirencester  by  some  foreign 
friend  or  monk. 

Henry  I.  ordered  the  first  English  Park  to  be  made 
at  Woodstock,  and  there  the  celebrated  "  Bower  " 
of  Fair  Rosamund  was  hidden  by  Henry  II.  A 
legend  of  fantastic  charm  has  been  woven  round 
this  hiding-place  of  the  "  Rose  of  the  Cliffords." 
The  Bower  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  a  ^Labyrinth 
and  entirely  concealed  from  view,  being  only  to  be 
found  by  one  knowing  the  secret.  These  Labyrinths 
were  not  uncommon,  and  existed  at  a  very  early 
date,  developing  into  the  Maze  of  later  times,  so 
charmingly  described  by  Thomas  Hill  (1563),  who 


ON  GARDENS  11 

considered  "  a  Maze  as  proper  adournementes  upon 
pleasure  to  a  Garden." 

It  is  interesting  to  find  that  besides  "the  Royal 
Gardens  at  Westminster,  Charing,  and  the  Tower," 
FitzStephen  mentions,  in  his  "  Life  of  St.  Thomas 
a  Becket,"  that  attached  to  the  houses  in  London 
were  Gardens  containing  large  trees  "both  spacious 
and  pleasing  to  the  sight,"  showing  that  a  love 
of  green  leaves  in  Spring  is  not  a  modern  fancy  of 
Londoners. 

Curious  reading  is  the  description  of  a  Garden 
in  "  Melbourne"  in  1295,  belonging  to  the  Earl 
of  Lincoln,  the  records  of  which  are  to  be  found 
in  "the  Record  Office  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster." 
From  these  it  appears  that  the  property  was  so 
large  and  well  worked  as  to  allow  the  owner  to 
sell  Fruit,  Vegetables,  and  Roses  (the  only  flower 
mentioned)  in  large  quantities.  From  this  time 
onward  the  taste  for  Gardens  and  Gardening  be- 
came more  and  more  general,  and  was  helped  in 
no  small  measure  by  finding  a  place  in  current 
literature. 

Although  to-day  nothing  of  the  quaint  me- 
diaeval Garden  remains  untouched,  illuminated 
MSS.  and  poems  fortunately  exist  These  two 
beautiful  mirrors  of  the  past  show  very  clearly  what 
the  Gardens  of  old  time  must  have  been  like.  In 
"  Piers  Plowman  "  many  little  Garden  details  are 
given,  while  Lydgate  writes  of  a  Garden  where 


12         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

"all  the  Alleys  were  made  playne  with  sand." 
Then  Chaucer  seems  to  foreshadow  Spenser's 
joy  and  delight  in  English  flowers  and  Gardens. 
Of  all  the  many  poems  written  about  Gardens, 
fruits  and  flowers,  John  Gardener's  (144°)  was 
perhaps  the  earliest  original  work.  Little  is  known 
of  him,  and  his  poem  (in  reality  a  treatise  in  verse) 
is  of  so  practical  a  nature  that  it  is  thought  that 
he  himself  was  a  Gardener.  He  gives  excellent 
descriptions  of  the  grafting  of  trees  and  the  setting 
and  sowing  of  seed,  and  the  flowers  and  herbs 
he  mentions  are  of  great  interest  as  showing 
what  were  commonly  grown  in  England  in  his 
day. 

In  an  illuminated  copy  of  the  "  Romance  of  the 
Rose  "  in  the  British  Museum  a  fascinating  picture 
is  found  of  a  Garden  of  the  fifteenth  century.  A 
wonderful  Garden  it  represents,  filled  with  quaint 
beauties  and  devices ;  it  is  surrounded  with  battle- 
mented  walls,  and  divided  into  two  Gardens  by  a 
lattice  screen.  One  is  "a  Privy  Garden,"  leading 
into  a  Pleasance  ;  the  latter  is  carpeted  with  grass, 
patterned  with  daisies.  A  copper  fountain,  en- 
circled by  a  marble  curb,  stands  in  the  midst  of 
the  grass,  with  Orange-trees  in  the  background. 
The  second  Garden  is  cut  into  grass  plots  edged 
with  Box,  and  in  the  distance,  separated  again  by 
a  fence,  are  flower-beds.  This  type  of  Garden  is 
most  aptly  described  by  King  James  I.  of  Scot- 


ON  GARDENS  13 

land.  During  his  imprisonment  at  Windsor  he 
wrote  the  charming  poem,  the  "  King's  Quhair," 
which  is  supposed  to  be  a  description  of  the  Garden 
beneath  his  window  : — 


"  Now  was  there  made,  fast  by  the  Towns  wall, 
A  Garden  fair; — and  in  the  corners  set 
An  Arbour  green,  with  wandis  long  and  small 
Railed  about,  and  so  with  trees  set, 
Was  all  the  place  and  Hawthorne  hedges  knet, 
That  lyf  was  none  walking  there  forbye 
That  might  within  scarce  any  wight  espy. 

So  thick  the  boughes  and  the  leaves  green 

Beshaded  all  the  Alleys  that  there  were, 

And  raids  of  every  Arbour  might  be  seen 

The  sharpe  greene  sweet  Juniper 

Growing  so  fair  with  branches  here  and  there, 

That  as  it  seemed  to  a  lyf  without, 

The  boughes  spread  the  arbour  all  about." 


It  may  be  here  noted  that  the  mediaeval  Gardens 
were  generally  square  ;  possessed  a  fountain  ;  were 
fully  planted  with  hedges  and  alleys ;  the  little 
paths  sanded.  Few  Gardens,  moreover,  were 
without  a  "  Privy  playing  place."  Lastly,  all 
Gardens  were  enclosed,  either  with  thick-set 
hedges  or  stone  walls — made  use  of  in  the  first 
place  as  a  safeguard,  and  later  retained  for  their 
beauty  and  the  privacy  they  secured. 

The  "wandis"  mentioned  in  King  James's  poem 


14          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

were  the  wooden  railings  with  which  the  beds  were 
divided,  and  can  be  seen  in  some  of  Holbein's 
pictures,  painted  green  and  white. 

In  the  Tudor  period  Gardens  acquired  many 
new  features — among  them,  "  Mounts,"  "Arbours," 
"  Galleries "  and  "  Knottes,"  often  in  geometrical 
patterns.  For  instance,  in  the  Garden  belonging  to 
the  Earl  of  Northumberland  in  1512,  it  is  stated 
"his  household  consisted  of  160  people,"  and  he 
had  only  one  Gardener,  who  "hourely  attended  in 
the  Garden  for  the  setting  of  erbis,  and  clipping 
of  knottes  and  sweeping  said  Garden  clean."  The 
chief  and  most  popular  innovation  at  this  time 
was  opus  toparium  (topiary  work) — and  it  soon  be- 
came general  everywhere.  Leland  writes  in  his 
"  Itinerary "  (in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century)  of  the  Gardens  at  Wresehill  Castle,  men- 
tioning both  topiary  work  and  mounts.  He  says  : 
"The  orchardes  are  exceeding  faire.  And  in  the 
orchardes  were  mounts  opere  topiario  writhen 
about  with  degrees,  like  cokilshells  to  come  to 
the  top  without  payne."  Henry  VIII.'s.  reign — 
an  interesting  period  from  many  points  of  view 
—  is  certainly  very  full  of  information  for  the 
Garden  lover,  as  during  that  time  many  celebrated 
Gardens  were  created  and  mention  was  made  of 
them  in  the  literature  of  the  day. 

A  book  could  be  written  upon  the  glories  of  the 
Gardens  at  Hampton  Court.  Cavendish  gives  a 


ON  GARDENS  15 

good   idea   of  all    their   beauties    in    his   metrical 
"Life  of  Wolsey"— 


"  My  Garden  sweet,  enclosed  with  walles  strong, 
Embanked  with  benches  to  sytt  and  take  my  rest — 
The  knots,  so  enknotted,  it  cannot  be  exprest, 
With  Arbours  and  alyes  so  pleasant  and  so  dulce." 


The  Gardens  possessed  besides  "Mounts"  at  the 
corners,  Fishponds,  Dials,  Columns,  Topiary  work, 
and  "  galleries  fayre  both  large  and  small  to  walk  in 
them  when  it  liked  me  best."  These  "galleries" 
were  made  of  wooden  trellis-work,  covered  with 
Vines,  Roses,  or  Honeysuckle. 

When  Henry  VIII.  took  Hampton  Court  from 
his  disgraced  minister,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  he  intro- 
duced into  the  Garden  Statues  and  other  foreign 
novelties,  traceable  to  Italian  influence.  About 
this  time  Cardinal  D'Este  revived  the  taste  for 
statuary  in  Gardens  and  the  custom  of  having 
elaborate  waterworks  and  fountains  playing.  Mon- 
taigne mentions  these  fountains  very  fully  in  his 
journal  ;  also  from  the  "  quaintly  delightful  pen 
of  John  Evelyn "  there  are  ample  descriptions. 
These  novelties  were  quickly  imitated  by  Francis  I., 
that  lover  of  art,  and  later  Henry,  eager  to  have 
every  treasure  his  rival  possessed,  copied  the  pre- 
vailing taste. 

At  Nonsuch  there  were  strange  fountains  "  that 


16         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

spout  water,  one  round  the  other  like  a  pyramid 
upon  which  are  perched  small  birds  that  stream 
water  out  of  their  bills  .  .  .  and  another  pyramid 
of  marble  full  of  concealed  pipes,  which  spirt 
upon  all  who  come  within  their  reach."  So  writes 
Paulus  Hentzner,  a  German  who  visited  England 
and  describes  the  quaint  conceits  of  the  Garden  of 
Nonsuch. 

Henry  began  Nonsuch  about  1538,  and  its  house 
and  Gardens  rivalled  many  a  larger  palace.  It  was 
a  favourite  residence  with  Queen  Elizabeth  and 
Henrietta  Maria.  In  the  Parliamentary  Survey 
mention  is  made  of  the  many  beauties  of  Nonsuch, 
"the  walled  Gardens,  Alleys,  thick  Thorn  Hedges, 
Wilderness,  Privy  Garden." 

Charles  II.  gave  this  beautiful  Garden  filled  with 
quaint  devices  to  the  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  who 
pulled  down  the  house  and  sold  the  contents !  It 
is  strange  to  think  that  later  in  the  eighteenth 
century  Nonsuch,  once  an  extreme  example  of 
the  Formal  Style,  should  have  become  the  pro- 
perty of  the  brother  of  George  Whateley,  one  of 
the  chief  writers  upon  the  subject  of  modern 
English  Gardening.  He  altered  the  Garden  and 
Park  to  suit  his  own  views,  and  Nonsuch  ended 
by  being  an  extreme  example  of  a  diametrically 
opposite  school. 

The  Reformation  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
monasteries  made  havoc  with  the  beautiful  old 


ON  GARDENS  17 

monastic  Gardens,  which  became  private  pro- 
perty, and  only  in  a  few  cases  is  there  any  of 
the  original  Garden  left. 

Thomas  Tusser's  ardent  book  on  "  Husbandrie  " 
did  good  service  on  behalf  of  the  practical  side  of 
Gardening.  His  chief  work  was  published  in  1557 
a  year  before  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  Queen 
in  whose  reign  every  art  and  science  flourished, 
and  none  more  so  than  the  art  of  Gardening ; 
an  extraordinary  impetus  being  given  to  the  art 
by  the  many  men  of  genius  of  the  time,  who  not 
only  took  an  absorbing  interest  in  the  culture  of 
flowers,  but  wrote  upon  the  subject.  Elizabethan 
literature  is  rich  in  the  names  of  these  men,  who 
vied  with  one  another  in  praising  the  joys  of  a 
Garden.  Bacon's  essay  "On  Gardens"  is  known 
and  quoted  all  over  the  world,  suiting  every  taste 
and  every  school.  Sir  Philip  Sidney  mentions  a 
Garden  "neither  field,  Garden,  nor  orchard";  and 
Sir  Henry  Wotton  says  that  "  Gardens  should  be 
irregular."  All  three  are  claimed  as  prophets  of 
the  later  Landscape  School. 

Spenser's  descriptions  of  Gardens  and  flowers 
leave  a  deep  impression  upon  the  reader  of  his 
wish  to  impart  his  love  of  their  beauties  to 
others,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  praise 
of  Gardens  so  passing  into  literature  had  an 
immense  influence  upon  the  culture  and  discovery 
of  plants. 


18          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  following  fascinating  lines  of  Spenser  sum 
up  the  favourite  flowers  of  those  wonderful  Eliza- 
bethan days : — 


1  Bring  hither  the  Pinke  and  purple  Cullambine 

With  Gelliflowers, 
Bring  Coronations,  and  Sops-in-wine, 

Worne  of  paramoures. 

Strowe  me  the  ground  with  Daffadoundillies 
And  Cowslips  and  Kingcups  and  loved  Lillies, 

The  pretty  Pawnee 

And  the  Chevisaunce 
Shall  match  with  the  fayre  flowre  Delice." 


Shakespeare  is  perhaps  the  King  par  excellence 
of  all  flower-worshippers,  his  plays  and  poems 
being  full  of  charming  fancies  about  English 
flowers.  He  also  notes  in  many  places  the  features 
of  the  Formal  Garden  by  alluding  to  : — 


'The  quaint  mazes  in  the  wanton  green"; 

'  Through  forthrights  and  meanders  "  ; 

'  A  Garden  circummured  with  brick  " ; 

'  A  planched  gate  "  ; 

'Thick  pleached  alley"; 

'Pleached  alley  where  Honeysuckle  ripen'd  by  the 

sun  " ; 
"Curiously  knotted  Garden." 

No  notes  upon  Gardens  would  be  complete  with- 
out the  mention  of  the  Herbal  literature,  which  was 


ON  GARDENS  19 

the  outcome  of  Botanical  or  Herb  Gardens.  The 
first  Garden  of  Simples  was  founded  at  Padua  in 
J545>  to  be  followed  very  shortly  by  others  in 
various  places,  but  it  was  nearly  a  century  later 
before  England  followed  suit.  The  first  English 
Herbal  was  that  of  William  Turner,  written  about 
fifty  years  before  the  celebrated  one  of  Gerarde. 
Gerarde  was  well  known  through  having  super- 
intended for  twenty  years  Lord  Burleigh's  Gardens, 
and  also  on  account  of  his  wonderful  Physic  Garden 
in  Holborn. 

One  of  the  best  remembered  of  these  quaint  old 
writers  is  Parkinson,  the  author  of  "  Paradisi-in- 
Sole,  Paradisus  Terrestris,  or  a  Garden  of  all  sorts 
of  pleasant  Flowers  ";  but  they  one  and  all  did  an 
inestimable  amount  for  Gardening  by  their  travels 
and  research. 

The  Gardens  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth  were  the 
outcome  of  French  and  Italian  influence,  combined 
with  the  formal  ideas  of  design.  This  proved  the 
best  style  for  an  English  Garden,  and  it  was  a  pity 
when  fashion  carried  many  of  the  foreign  features  to 
extremes,  and  especially  when  the  Dutch  influence 
became  too  marked.  It  may  be  safely  said  that 
what  is  now  meant  by  "an  old  English  Garden  "  is 
one  very  similar  to  those  that  existed  during  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth.  The  architects  of  this  date, 
especially  John  Thorpe,  had  not  a  little  to  do  with 
the  Gardens  of  the  period.  According  to  his  plans, 


20          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

he  held,  like  the  Romans,  that  the  Garden  was  in 
strict  conjunction  with  the  House,  and  needed  as 
much  planning  as  the  latter. 

"  Theobalds,"  created  by  Lord  Burleigh,  was  the 
most  typical  Garden  of  this  time.  Both  Hentzner 
and  Mandelslo  have  left  striking  descriptions  of  its 
beauties.  The  latter  writes  :  "  It  is  large  and  square, 
having  all  its  walls  covered  with  Sillery  and  a 
beautiful  jet  d'eau  in  the  centre.  The  Parterre 
hath  many  pleasant  walks,  many  of  which  are 
planted  on  the  sides  with  espaliers,  and  others 
arched  over.  Some  of  the  trees  are  Limes  and 
Elms,  and  at  the  end  is  a  small  mount  called  the 
Mount  of  Venus,  which  is  placed  in  the  midst  of  a 
labyrinth,  and  is  upon  the  whole  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  spots  in  the  world." 

It  is  this  Garden  and  its  style  that  Horace 
Walpole  calls  "false,"  saying,  "We  are  apt  to 
think  that  Sir  William  Temple  and  King  William 
were  in  a  manner  the  introducers  of  Gardening 
into  England.  By  the  descriptions  of  Lord 
Burleigh's  gardens  at  Theobalds  and  those  at 
Nonsuch  we  find  that  the  magnificent  though 
false  taste  was  known  as  early  as  the  reigns  of 
Henry  VIII.  and  his  daughter.  There  is  scarce 
an  unnatural  and  sumptuous  impropriety  at 
Versailles,  which  we  do  not  find  in  Hentzner's 
descriptions  of  the  Gardens  above  mentioned." 
The  method  of  Gardening  in  the  time  of  James  I. 


ON  GARDENS  21 

was  similar  to  that  of  Elizabethan  days ;  the  same 
men  and  their  followers  being  still  alive,  and 
forming  a  link  with  earlier  times  and  by  their 
influence  upholding  the  old  ways,  so  frequently 
discarded  by  the  rising  generation  as  being 
primitive  and  unsatisfactory. 

In  1618,  William  Lawson,  "the  Izaack  Walton 
of  Gardens,"  published  his  "  New  Orchard  and 
Garden" — a  book  that  contained  practical  knowledge 
and  an  honest  delight  in  flowers  and  birds.  He 
writes  with  genuine  love  of  Nature,  and  flowers  for 
"  the  Flower  Garden." 

Each  new  work  gave  a  stimulus  to  the  increasing 
love  of  Gardens.  Early  in  King  James's  reign  the 
exchange  between  Sir  Robert  Cecil  and  his  Royal 
master  took  place,  Theobalds  for  Hatfield. 

The  latter  was  soon  planned  out  by  its  new 
owner,  and  still  retains  much  beauty  of  design  and 
character,  especially  the  "Privy  Garden"  with  its 
"  Pleached  Alley  "  and  the  Vineyard  long  known 
as  "the  rarity." 

Much  of  the  success  of  the  Gardens  at  Hatfield 
was  owing  to  Lord  Salisbury's  Gardener,  John 
Tradescant,  the  second  of  the  name — "that  painful 
industrious  searcher  and  lover  of  all  Nature's 
varieties/'  as  Parkinson  calls  him.  "  His  was  the 
age  of  florists,  and  the  chief  ornaments  of  the 
Parterres  were  owing  to  his  labours"  in  travelling 
and  discoveries.  The  Tradescants  had  a  large 


22          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

house  in  Lambeth,  the  Garden  of  which  was  filled 
with  an  amazing  number  of  trees,  plants,  and  flowers 
"particularly  rich  in  those  from  South  America." 
In  the  churchyard  of  Old  Lambeth  Church  there 
is  a  tombstone  erected  to  the  Tradescants,  from 
the  clever  epitaph  on  which  is  learnt  that  the 
three  generations  lie  there;  how  they  collected  all 
that  was  rare  "  in  sea  and  land,"  and  how  they 
were  "both  gardeners  to  the  Rose  and  Lily 
Queen,"  and  that  at  the  last  day  they  will  change 
"  this  Garden  for  a  Paradise." 

Not  many  alterations  were  made  in  the  style  of 
Gardens  in  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I., 
but  it  was  during  this  time  that  through  the 
influence  of  Inigo  Jones  the  first  Garden  buildings 
came  to  be  erected,  consisting  of  Tea  Houses, 
Banqueting  Houses,  and  Fishing  Lodges.  That 
extraordinarily  versatile  genius,  John  Evelyn,  who 
"  first  taught  Gardening  to  speak  proper  English," 
first  appears  in  Charles  I.'s  reign.  What  he  did  for 
Gardens  and  Gardening  can  never  be  over-estimated, 
as  he  wrote  with  not  only  great  literary  taste  but 
practical  knowledge,  and  his  name  must  ever  stand 
out  in  the  history  of  English  Gardens.  His 
delightful  descriptions  of  Gardens  at  home  and 
abroad  are  treasuries  of  information  to  all  interested 
in  the  subject. 

Evelyn's  chief  books  were  his  translation  of  de  La 
Quintinye's  "  Compleat  Gardener  "  and  his  "  Sylva," 


ON  GARDENS  23 

a  discourse  upon  Forest  Trees,  a  subject  very  near 
to  Evelyn's  heart.  As  Rene"  Rapin  sings  in  his 
"  Poem  on  a  Garden  "  (translated  by  Evelyn) — 


Long  rows  of  trees  and  woods  my  Pen  invites 
With  shady  walks,  and  Garden's  chief  delight. 
High  shooting  Linden  next  exact  your  care 
With  graceful  shades  to  those  who  take  the  air.' 


Evelyn  had  "a  pleasant  villa"  himself  at  Dept- 
ford  —  "a  fine  garden  for  walks  and  hedges 
(especially  a  holly  one),  a  pretty  little  green- 
house with  an  indifferent  stock  in  it.  In  his 
Garden  he  had  four  large  round  philareas, 
smooth-clipped,  raised  on  a  single  stalk  from  the 
ground  in  the  fashion  now  much  used.  Part  of 
his  garden,  is  very  woody,  and  shady  for  walking  ; 
but  his  garden  not  being  walled,  has  little  of  the 
best  fruits." 

Among  other  Garden  matters,  Evelyn  found  time 
to  be  interested  in  "  The  Medical  Garden  at  West- 
minster," and  was  a  constant  visitor  there,  making 
notes  in  his  Diary  of  the  new  plants  he  had  seen 
from  time  to  time.  The  Westminster  Physic 
Garden  was  entirely  superseded  by  the  one  made 
at  Chelsea  by  the  Apothecaries  Company  in  1672. 
Evelyn  visited  this  Garden  of  Simples  in  1685, 
and  notes  that  there  is  a  collection  of  "  innumerable 
rarities." 


24          A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

A  distinct  change  came  over  the  style  of  Gardens 
after  the  Restoration,  and  Charles  II.  returned  to 
his  own  country.  Imbued  with  the  beauty  of  the 
French  style,  he  determined  to  imitate  it  in  Eng- 
land. It  was  little  wonder  that  the  magnificence  of 
the  brilliant  Court  of  Louis  XIV.  dazzled  Charles. 
It  was  then  at  its  height — the  studied  architecture 
of  Mansard  and  Perrault  were  "  the  complement  of 
the  Monarchical  and  Formal  Garden  of  Le  Notre," 
the  greatest  name  in  the  history  of  Gardens  and 
the  one  most  detested  by  the  later  Natural  or 
Landscape  School  of  Gardening.  The  life  of 
this  great  man,  Andr6  Le  Ndtre,  reads  like  a 
fairy-tale,  telling  as  it  does  of  his  rising  from 
a  humble  position  by  his  genius  to  a  place  of 
trust  and  confidence.  "His  art"  is  summed  up 
by  Gautier  as  "the  supreme  formula  of  a  com- 
plete art  and  the  expression  at  its  highest  power 
of  a  civilisation  arrived  at  its  full  expression." 

Le  Ndtre's  designs  were  all  on  a  large  scale — he 
delighted  in  long  Avenues  (often  radiating  from  one 
centre-point),  wide  paths,  Terraces  adorned  with 
Statues,  Fountains  and  Cascades,  and  Arbours  with 
high  backgrounds  of  trellis  work,  and  closely-cut 
trees,  as  well  as  broad  expanses  of  water.  Yet  all 
this  marvellous  and  complicated  design  was  perfect 
in  proportion,  and  he  without  doubt  carried  the 
Art  of  Garden  Design  to  the  highest  point  it  has 
ever  reached.  The  "  grand  manner  "  and  splendour 


ON  GARDENS  25 

of  Le  N6tre  influenced  Garden  design  materially 
in  England,  but  chiefly  the  great  Gardens,  as  Le 
Notre's  designs  required  space  not  forthcoming  in 
the  grounds  of  many  a  small  manor  house.  This 
French  influence  can  be  especially  traced  in  the 
Gardens  of  Wrest  Park,  in  Bedfordshire,  where 
extensive  Avenues  still  partly  remain. 

Charles  is  said  to  have  invited  Le  Notre  to 
England,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  he  ever  came, 
though  it  is  known  that  French  Gardeners  laid 
out  the  Gardens  of  Whitehall,  St.  James's,  and 
Hampton  Court,  where  the  semicircle  of  Limes 
(enclosing  nine  and  a  half  acres)  was  planted  in 
Charles's  reign,  and  actually  under  the  direction  of 
Le  Notre. 

The  knot  at  this  time  had  quite  disappeared, 
and  the  more  complicated  Parterre  introduced  from 
France  had  taken  its  place.  There  are  many  kinds 
of  Parterres:  (i)  "Parterres  de  Broderie ;  (2)  Par- 
terres of  Compartiment ;  (3)  Parterres  a  1'Anglaise  ; 
(4)  Parterres  of  Cut- work,"  and  as  a  whole  they 
can  be  technically  described  as  "  a  level  division  of 
ground  which  for  the  most  part  faces  south,  and  is 
best  in  front  of  a  House,  and  is  generally  furnished 
with  Greens  and  flowers."  The  chief  practical 
English  Gardener  contemporary  with  the  great 
French  master,  was  John  Rose,  who  worked  his 
way  up  to  be  royal  Gardener  to  Charles  II.  at 
St.  James's.  Rose  was  sent  to  study  the  style  of 


26          A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Le  Notre  at  Versailles,  and  most  of  the  French 
design  brought  into  England  was  introduced  by 
him  or  his  favourite  pupil,  George  London. 
Another  name  that  is  connected  at  this  time  with 
Gardens  and  Gardeners,  is  that  of  Sir  William 
Temple,  the  patient  lover  for  seven  years  of 
Dorothy  Osborne  and  the  happy  possessor  of  her 
charming  love-letters — now  acknowledged  to  be 
"a  precious  piece  of  history." 

Temple  was  a  contemporary  of  Evelyn,  who 
mentions  in  his  Diary  his  visits  to  Temple's  Gardens 
at  Sheen.  To  these  gardens  Temple  devoted  him- 
self till  1688,  after  a  long  life  of  diplomacy — and 
then  later  to  Moor  Park,  in  Surrey,  called  by  him 
after  the  favourite  Garden  of  his  childhood's  days, 
and  described  by  him  "  as  the  perfectest  figure  of  a 
Garden  I  ever  saw  at  home  or  abroad."  Temple 
turned  his  attention  to  the  fruit  Garden,  possess- 
ing the  pretty  idea  that  the  flower  Garden  "  was 
more  the  ladies'  part  than  the  man's,"  and  it  can 
easily  be  imagined  what  a  lovely  Garden  of 
flowers  the  delightful  Dorothy  Osborne  must 
have  created. 

The  Chinese  mode  of  Gardening  (which  many 
people  think  was  the  means  of  introducing  the 
irregular  or  natural  style  into  England),  was  first 
mentioned  by  Temple.  He  says  that  he  is  quite 
aware  that  there  may  be  other  forms  of  Garden- 
ing "  wholly  irregular  that  may  have  more  beauty 


ON  GARDENS  27 

than  any  of  the  others,  but  they  must  owe  it  to 
some  extraordinary  dispositions  of  nature.  .  .  . 
Something  of  this  I  have  seen  in  some  places, 
but  heard  more  of  it  from  others  who  have  lived 
among  the  Chinese." 

A  little  over  fifty  years  later  the  Chinese 
mode  of  planting  was  copied,  both  in  England 
and  abroad. 

William  and  Mary,  when  they  came  to  England, 
were  naturally  in  favour  of  Dutch  ideas,  and  they 
brought  the  Dutch  style  in  Gardening  into  promi- 
nence. They  found  small  difficulty  in  introducing 
alterations  in  Garden  designs,  Gardening  having 
become  a  fashionable  hobby  and  every  one  vying 
with  one  another  in  having  the  very  last  new 
fashion  carried  out 

The  Dutch  style  was  not  unlike  the  French,  but 
everything  was  on  a  smaller  scale.  Such  trivial 
things  as  glass  balls,  coloured  sand,  and  painted 
perspectives  were  introduced  to  give  a  stiff  effect, 
the  two  great  characteristics  being  symmetry  and 
masses  of  ornament. 

One  of  the  best  examples  of  this  style  was  the 
Garden  at  Loo ;  but  Hampton  Court  was  perhaps . 
the  finest  in  England.  George  London  laid  out 
the  great  semicircular  Parterre  during  the  reign 
of  William  and  Mary.  Later  Queen  Anne  com- 
plained there  was  too  much  Box  as  she  disliked 
the  smell  of  it,  and  London  lived  to  see  it  rooted 


28          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

up,  though  it  was  replaced  again  owing  to  other 
royal  commands. 

Of  all  the  destructive  forces  which  make  havoc 
in  a  Garden  man  himself  is  surely  the  greatest, 
far  outdoing  either  weather  or  time,  dire  as  the 
ravages  of  both  may  be.  An  excellent  bird's-eye 
view  of  Hampton  Court  exists  in  Kip's  "  Britannia 
Illustrata,"  showing  the  great  semicircular  Parterre. 
At  this  time  stone  walls  were  replaced  by  magnifi- 
cent wrought-iron  gates  and  railings  known  as 
"  clair-voye"es."  A  handsome  example  is  to  be 
seen  at  Hampton  Court  designed  by  Stephen 
Switzer. 

Then  came  the  vogue  for  clipping  Yews  and 
Evergreens,  which  shortly  developed  such  exag- 
gerated proportions  that  every  Garden  was  filled 
with  trees  of  all  sorts  and  sizes  cut  into  weird 
shapes  to  represent  animals,  thus  turning  what 
had  once  been  a  beauty  into  ridicule,  and  so  giving 
the  next  generation  ample  grounds  for  its  contempt 
of  the  practice. 

The  Gardens  of  this  date  are  admirably  described 
in  Celia  Fiennes'  interesting  book,  "Through 
England  on  a  Side-saddle  in  the  Time  of  William 
and  Mary."  That  she  admires  the  new  Dutch 
style  more  than  the  old  is  not  surprising,  women 
having  ever  been  lovers  of  change  and  variety. 

Switzer  declared  that  during  King  William's 
reign  (1697-1702)  Gardens  and  Gardening  were 


ON  GARDENS  29 

at  their  zenith.  Certainly  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  from  this  time  the  decadence  of  the  Formal 
style  set  in.  All  that  had  been  introduced,  such  as 
Terraces,  Walks,  Shorn  Shrubs,  Oranges  and  Myrtle 
trees  in  boxes  and — the  greatest  offender  of  all — 
the  "vegetable  sculpture"  had  become  exaggerated 
and  the  beautiful  old  style  gradually  died  of 
misuse.  About  this  time  a  succession  of  famous 
Gardeners  lived  in  England  —  among  them 
George  London,  who  was  a  pupil  of  Rose's,  and 
had  travelled  abroad,  especially  to  gain  knowledge 
of  French  methods.  Later  he  entered  Bishop 
Compton's  service  as  his  head  Gardener.  In 
conjunction  with  others  London  founded  the 
Nursery  Gardens  at  Brompton  (1694)  and  took 
Wise  (of  whom  very  little  is  known)  into  partner- 
ship. The  firm  became  famous  and  superintended 
all  the  Gardens  in  the  kingdom  belonging  to  any 
one  of  note.  London,  after  James  1 1. 's  flight,  and 
on  the  accession  to  the  throne  of  William  and  Mary, 
was  made  superintendent  of  the  Royal  Gardens 
(with  a  salary  of  £200  a  year)  and  also  page  of 
the  back  stairs.  According  to  gossip  of  the  day, 
he  had  the  "charge  of  conveying  the  Princess 
Anne  to  Nottingham  from  the  fury  of  the  Papists, 
previous  to  the  Revolution  being  complete."  The 
style  of  London  and  Wise  was  supposed  "to  com- 
bine the  best  features  in  the  French  and  Dutch 
styles,"  and  gained  them  the  admiration  of  Addison, 


30          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

who  likened  them  to  the  "heroic  poets."  London 
died  in  1713,  eleven  years  after  the  accession  of 
Queen  Anne.  Stephen  Switzer,  at  one  time  his 
pupil,  became  principal  Gardener,  and  after  him 
Bridgman.  Though  it  was  just  at  this  period  that 
the  old  formal  Garden  was  first  turned  into  ridicule, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  from  the  contemporary 
descriptions  of  them  it  would  be  difficult  to  picture 
anything  more  charming  than  some  of  the  Gardens 
in  the  reign  of  good  Queen  Anne.  They  were 
regular  green  bowers  of  beauty,  with  long  walks 
between  tall  stately  Yews,  clipped  into  straight, 
severe  walls,  but  allowed  to  grow  in  a  natural  and 
feathery  manner  at  the  top.  Strange  instance  of 
the  contrariety  of  human  nature,  that  during  one  of 
the  most  artificial  periods  known  in  English  history 
— when  manners,  habits,  and  literature  were  all 
furthest  removed  from  simplicity — there  should 
have  been  a  cry  raised  for  Nature,  and  nothing 
but  Nature,  in  Gardens ! 

Addison  began  the  attack  in  the  Spectator, 
saying,  "In  laying  out  a  Garden  we  are  to 
copy  Nature  as  much  as  possible.  Our  British 
Gardeners,  on  the  contrary,  instead  of  humouring 
Nature,  love  to  deviate  from  it  as  much  as 
possible." 

Pope,  the  most  artificial  and  the  wittiest  of 
writers,  soon  followed  suit  in  the  Guardian,  and  he 
lashed  with  a  pen  like  a  flail  the  "verdant  green 


ON  GARDENS  31 

sculpture,"  the  quaint  topiary  work  of  earlier  years, 
that  now  had  run  riot.  Pope  supposes  "  an  eminent 
town  Gardener"  had  lately  supplied  him  with  "a 
catalogue  of  greens."  He  declares  his  correspon- 
dent to  be  "a  wag"  and  has  arrived  at  "such 
perfection  in  his  art"  that  he  "cuts  family  pieces  of 
men,  women,  or  children."  Then  he  proceeds  with 
the  catalogue,  "as  sent  for  my  recommendation": — 

"  Adam  and  Eve  in  Yew  :  Adam  a  little  shattered  by  the  fall 
of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  in  the  great  storm  ;  Eve  and  the  serpent 
very  flourishing. 

The  Tower  of  Babel,  not  yet  finished. 

St.  George  in  Box ;  his  arms  scarce  long  enough,  but  will  be  in 
condition  to  stick  the  dragon  next  April. 

A  green  dragon  of  the  same,  with  a  tail  of  ground-ivy  for  the 
present. 

N.B. — These  two  not  to  be  sold  separately. 

Edward  the  Black  Prince  in  cypress. 

A  laurustine  bear  in  blossom,  with  a  juniper  hunter  in  berries. 

A  pair  of  giants,  stunted,  to  be  sold  cheap. 

A  Queen  Elizabeth  in  phylyraea,  a  little  inclining  to  the  green- 
sickness, but  full  of  growth. 

Another  Queen  Elizabeth  in  myrtle,  which  was  very  forward, 
but  miscarried  by  being  too  near  a  Savine. 

An  old  maid  of  honour  in  wormwood. 

A  topping  Ben  Jonson  in  laurel. 

Divers  eminent  modern  poets  in  bays,  somewhat  blighted,  to 
be  disposed  of,  a  pennyworth. 

A  quickset  hog,  shot  up  into  a  porcupine,  by  its  being  forgot  a 
week  in  rainy  weather. 

A  lavender  pig  with  sage  growing  in  his  belly. 

Noah's  ark  in  Holly,  standing  on  the  mount ;  the  ribs  a  little 
damaged  for  want  of  water." 


32          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Pope  was,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  chief  pioneers 
of  modern  Gardening,  and  it  was  not  a  little  due 
to  him  that  the  natural  manner  in  Gardening 
became  the  fashion.  At  Twickenham,  Pope  made 
his  five  acres  of  Garden  into  samples  of  every  kind 
of  scenery — as  artificial  and  clever  as  his  poetry 
and  as  far  from  real  Nature  as  were  ever  the  now 
despised  old  Formal  Gardens.  Walpole,  many  years 
later,  gives  a  description  of  this  Garden  of  Pope's  : 
"  It  was  a  little  bit  of  ground  of  five  acres,  enclosed 
with  three  lanes  and  seeing  nothing.  Pope  has 
twisted  and  twisted  and  rhymed  and  harmonised 
this  till  it  appeared  two  or  three  sweet  little  Lawns 
opening  and  opening  beyond  one  another,  and  the 
whole  surrounded  with  thick,  impenetrable  woods." 

Then  the  "  Grotto  " — who  has  not  heard  of  the 
far-famed  "Grotto"  in  Pope's  Garden,  with  its 
shells  and  pieces  of  looking-glass,  all,  according 
to  the  poet,  "  in  the  natural  taste "  ?  Stephen 
Switzer  agreed  with  Pope's  views  in  his  "  Ichno- 
graphia  Rustica,"  but  Bridgman  was  the  first  noted 
Gardener  to  work  in  agreement  with  the  views  of 
Addison  and  Pope.  Bridgman  "  banished  verdant 
sculpture,  but  still  retained  green  architecture, 
straight  alleys  and  palisades,  and  began  to  in- 
troduce a  little  gentle  disorder  into  the  plantation 
of  his  trees  and  bushes." 

Horace  Walpole  declares  in  his  essay  "On 
Modern  Gardening"  that  the  introduction  of 


ON  GARDENS  33 

"  Ha-Ha's,"  was  first  thought  of  by  Bridgman, 
and  this  destruction  of  walls  was  the  first  step  that 
led  to  all  the  other  innovations. 

Even  architects  became  followers  of  the  new 
school  (sometimes  called  the  Natural,  Irregular, 
Landscape,  Romantic,  English,  or  Chinese  School, 
in  opposition  to  the  Formal,  which  was  often  called 
the  Architectural,  Classical,  Regular,  Symmetrical 
or  Italian,  French  or  Dutch).  Batty  Langley  pub- 
lished a  gorgeous  book  upon  the  "  New  Principles 
of  Gardening,"  setting  out  to  prove  the  impossible, 
viz.,  that  the  "  Rural  style"  and  "  Grand  manner" 
could  be  made  to  agree  together.  Kent  followed 
Bridgman ;  he  was  originally  a  coachbuilder,  but 
feeling  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  his  trade, 
went  to  London,  where  he  studied  art  for  a  short  time. 
He  showed  such  distinct  signs  of  ability  that  he 
found  patrons  willing  to  supply  him  with  the  money 
to  travel.  At  Rome  fortune  favoured  him,  and  he 
met  Lord  Burlington,  who  became  his  patron  and 
devoted  champion  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Although  Kent  designed  some  very  fine  severe 
buildings,  and  was  an  architect  of  ability,  he  joined 
in  the  work  of  the  fashionable  destroyers,  and 
became  one  of  the  worst  offenders  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  old  Gardens. 

In  the  amusing  language  of  Walpole,  "he  leaped 
the  fence  and  saw  that  all  Nature  was  a  Garden." 
Lovers  of  old  Gardens  would  have  had  great 


34          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

cause  for  thankfulness  had  he  resisted  his  impulse 
to  leap  the  fence,  as  many  beautiful  Gardens  of  the 
past  would  have  come  down  to  this  generation 
untouched. 

For,  as  Pope  was  the  pioneer  of  the  new 
school,  Kent  was  the  originator  of  the  Landscape, 
or  Painters'  Garden,  into  which  at  one  time  it 
developed.  His  great  idea  was  to  make  in  a 
Garden  a  landscape  composition  resembling  a 
picture  of  Poussin  or  Claude.  His  ruling  prin- 
ciples were  the  great  values  of  light  and  shade  and 
perspective,  and  "  that  Nature  abhors  a  straight 
line,"  which  resulted  in  every  path  being  twisted 
and  curved,  and  the  rivers  and  lakes  becoming 
serpentine ;  in  fact,  "  a  witty  Frenchman  suggested 
that,  in  order  to  design  an  English  or  Natural 
Garden,  all  that  was  required  was  to  intoxicate 
your  Gardener  and  follow  in  his  footsteps." 

Kent's  love  of  Nature  was  so  great  that  "  in 
Kensington  Garden  he  planted  dead  trees,  to  give 
a  greater  air  of  truth  to  the  scene  ; — but  he  was 
soon  laughed  out  of  this  excess,"  adds  Walpole. 
Of  the  many  places  laid  out  by  Kent,  perhaps  the 
best  remembered  are  the  Gardens  at  Esher, 

"Where  Kent  and  Nature  vied  for  Pelham's  love," 

but  Walpole  thought  that  the  most  engaging  of  all 
his  works,  "  being  the  most  elegant  and  antique," 


ON  GARDENS  35 

was  Rousham,  in  Oxfordshire.  His  views  were 
soon  copied,  and  Charles  Hamilton  made  Pain's 
Hill,  in  Surrey,  "  a  perfect  example  of  this  mode." 

Kent  was  followed  by  Lancelot  Brown,  a  man 
with  little  or  no  genius  and  less  education.  He 
was  nicknamed  "  Capability,"  from  his  favourite 
habit  of  speaking  of  the  "capabilities  of  the  ground." 
Brown  was  kitchen  Gardener  to  Lord  Cobham 
at  Stowe,  where  he  rose,  without  possessing  any 
great  ability,  to  be  head  Gardener,  and  was  recom- 
mended to  the  post  of  Royal  Gardener  at  Hampton 
Court  by  his  master. 

An  amusing  description  of  Brown  was  written 
by  Chatham  in  a  letter  to  Lady  Stanhope  :  "  Lan- 
celot Brown,  Esquire,  en  titre  d  office ;  please  con- 
sider he  shares  the  private  hours  of  the  King, 
dines  familiarly  with  his  neighbour  of  Sion,  and 
sits  down  at  the  tables  of  all  the  House  of  Lords." 
As  can  be  seen  from  this,  Brown  was  fashionable  ; 
thus  he  had  complete  control  over  the  art  of 
Gardening  for  half  a  century.  Now  came  the 
rapid  destroying  of  all  the  old  Formal  beauties 
of  the  English  Garden.  Croome,  in  Worcester- 
shire, and  Fisherwick,  in  Staffordshire,  were  Brown's 
only  creations,  as  he  principally  spent  his  time  in 
remodelling  Gardens  into  "  Park-like  Scenery." 
His  methods  were  "declivities  softened  into  gentle 
slopes ;  plantations  belted  the  estate,  while  clumps 
and  single  trees  were  sprinkled  over  its  area."  A 


36          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

clump  of  trees  and  ornamental  water  were  indis- 
pensable to  any  place  arranged  by  Brown.  Twist- 
ing water  into  serpentine  shapes  was  his  favourite 
plan;  "at  Blenheim  he  covered  a  narrow  valley 
with  an  artificial  river,"  and  on  surveying  his 
work  he  was  heard  to  murmur,  "  Thames,  Thames, 
thou  wilt  never  forgive  me  !  " 

The  grievance  against  this  "  consummate  man- 
nerist "  would  have  been  comparatively  small  if 
he  had  contented  himself  with  the  creating  of  new 
Gardens,  but  it  is  his  wholesale  destruction  of  the 
old  which  must  fill  every  one  with  regret. 

This  passion  for  the  imitation  of  Nature  was 
passing  like  a  wave  over  Europe,  causing  a  re- 
action, not  only  in  Gardens,  but  in  art  and  litera- 
ture. For  Rousseau  preached  Nature ;  as  Taine 
says,  he  "made  the  dawn  visible  to  people  who 
had  never  risen  till  noon,  the  landscape  to  eyes 
that  had  only  rested  hitherto  upon  drawing-rooms 
and  palaces,  the  natural  Garden  to  men  who  had 
only  walked  between  tonsured  Yews  and  rectilinear 
Flower  Borders."  Then  Richardson,  the  novelist, 
followed  Rousseau,  and  helped,  with  others,  to 
weave  "  sentiment "  as  well  as  "  Nature "  into 
Gardens.  Thus  the  Landscape  style  had  to  be 
made  to  express  not  only  Nature,  but  to  display 
emotions  and  feelings  like  a  human  being. 

Shenstone,  the  poet,  carried  his  own  Garden  at 
Leasowes,  in  Shropshire,  to  the  highest  pitch  of 


ON  GARDENS  37 

the  Sentimental  Garden  style.  "Art,"  he  cried, 
"should  never  be  allowed  to  set  foot  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Nature."  And  forthwith  he  planned  a 
Garden  with  the  most  consummate  art  and  shut 
Nature  out. 

"  Capability  "  Brown's  desperate  improvements 
are  well  described  by  Cowper  in  "  The  Garden  "  : — 

"  Lo,  he  comes  ! 

The  omnipotent  magician,  Brown,  appears  ! 
Down  falls  the  venerable  pile,  the  abode 
Of  our  forefathers — a  grave,  whisker'd  race, 
But  tasteless.     Springs  a  palace  in  its  stead, 
But  in  a  distant  spot ;     .     .     . 
He  speaks.     The  lake  in  front  becomes  a  lawn  ; 
Woods  vanish,  hills  subside,  and  valleys  rise ; 
And  streams,  as  if  created  for  his  use, 
Pursue  the  track  of  his  directing  wand." 

Luckily  before  every  delicious  old  Garden  was 
destroyed  under  Brown's  fatal  influence,  a  reaction 
set  in,  and  Brown  was  denounced  by  Gilpin,  Price, 
Knight,  and  Mason,  who,  in  many  ways  approving 
of  the  Landscape  style,  desired  it  to  be  "  rational 
Landscape."  Knight  was  loud  in  his  abuse,  and  in 
a  most  amusing  poem  proves  how  incongruous  the 
new  style  is  surrounding  old  houses  : — 

"Oft  when  I've  seen  some  lonely  mansion  stand 
Fresh  from  the  improver's  desolating  hand, 
'Midst  shaven  Lawns  that  far  around  it  creep 
In  one  eternal  undulating  sweep ; 


38          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

And  scattered  clumps,  that  nod  at  one  another, 
Each   stiffly  waving  to   its   formal   brother ; 
Tired  with  the  extensive  scene,  so  dull  and  bare, 
To  Heaven  devoutly  I've  addressed  my  prayer  : 
Again  the  moss-grown  terrace  to  raise ; 
And  spread  the  labyrinth's  perplexing  maze ; 
Replace  in  even  lines  the  ductile  Yew 
And  plant  again  the  ancient  avenue." 


Even  Sir  William  Chambers — an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  Chinese  Gardens — while  he  was  dotting 
Kew  Gardens  with  pagodas,  and  natural  effects, 
remonstrated  about  the  wholesale  destruction  of 
trees  :  "  Our  designers  have  scarcely  left  an  acre  of 
shade  or  three  trees  growing  in  a  line  from  Land's 
End  to  the  Tweed." 

Nevertheless,  regardless  of  remonstrance,  there 
were  people  who  still  admired  Brown's  work,  and 
at  his  death  in  1783,  his  place  was  taken  by  his 
devoted  disciple,  Humphrey  Repton.  "Amenity" 
Repton  was  the  first  to  call  himself  a  "  Landscape 
Gardener,"  and  if  the  character  of  his  talents  was 
defined,  it  would  be  found  to  be  more  for  elegant 
ornament  and  prettiness  than  for  any  decided  effort 
of  original  genius.  He  liked  discussing  and  writing 
about  his  views,  and  he  leaves  no  one  in  doubt  as  to 
what  he  considers  perfect  Landscape  Gardening — 
viz.,  "  Firstly,  to  display  the  natural  beauties  and 
hide  the  natural  defects  of  every  situation ;  secondly, 
to  give  the  appearance  of  extent  and  freedom  by 


ON  GARDENS  39 

disguising  or  hiding  the  boundary;  thirdly,  to  conceal 
every  interference  of  art,  however  expensive,  making 
the  whole  appear  the  production  of  Nature  only ; 
and,  fourthly,  to  remove  or  conceal  all  objects  of 
mere  convenience  and  comfort  if  incapable  of  being 
ornamental  or  becoming  proper  parts  of  the  general 
scenery."  Besides  possessing  "views,"  Repton  had 
a  system  of  "  Red  Books,"  and  when  asked  to 
improve  a  place  he  sent  one  of  these  books,  illus- 
trated with  plans  and  pictures  of  the  Garden  as  it 
was ;  while,  by  a  clever  arrangement  of  slides,  the 
picture  could  be  changed  to  show  how  he  proposed 
to  change  the  Garden.  These  Red  Books  give  the 
old  Garden-lover  a  terrible  shock !  How  such 
sweeping  changes  could  have  entered  into  the  mind 
of  any  man  remains  a  mystery.  Sir  Uvedale  Price's 
famous  passage  of  arms  with  Repton  brought  the 
latter  to  greater  reason  in  his  alterations.  Price  was 
one  of  the  group  of  men  called  the  "  Picturesque 
writers,"  and  belonged  to  what  was  sometimes  called 
the  "  Picturesque  Landscape  School."  They  saw 
the  excesses  of  both  schools,  and  advised  that  the 
Formal  Garden  should  be  altered  but  not  destroyed, 
and  "  that  the  principles  of  Claude  shall  be 
followed  as  a  safe  guide,"  so  returning  to  Kent's 
original  views.  To  their  efforts  many  a  beautiful 
old  Garden  owes  its  existence. 

How  often  it  appears  that  the  aim   at   a   great 
simplicity  but  results  in  a  greater  artificiality.    Such 


40          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

was  the  case  with  the  Natural  or  Landscape  school. 
The  latter  school,  which  became  the  National 
English  style,  began  to  pass  into  France  about 
1762.  It  is  distressing  to  think  what  beauties  were 
recklessly  destroyed  in  the  name  of  Nature,  and 
these  innovations  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  what 
was  done  later  in  the  name  of  liberty 

It  is  difficult,  in  the  maze  of  literature  and  the 
disconnected  lives  of  the  principal  actors  in  the 
drama,  to  describe  the  exact  evolution  of  Gardens — 
especially  to  discover  the  actual  source  of  the  great 
change  from  one  style  to  the  other. 

Gray,  the  poet,  claims  "  our  skill  in  Gardening,  or 
rather  in  the  laying  out  of  ground,"  as  being  "the 
only  taste  we  can  call  our  own,  and  the  only  proof 
of  original  talent  in  the  matter  of  pleasure,"  and 
that  the  natural  style  was  the  invention  of  the 
English. 

Foreigners  declare  that  the  whole  style  was 
borrowed  from  the  Irregular  Gardening  of  the 
Chinese  and  made  particularly  pleasing  in  England 
by  the  beautiful  grass  Lawns. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  principles  of  modern  Land- 
scape Gardening  have  been  laid  down  by  English 
authorities,  chiefly  Mason's  "  Essay  on  Design  in 
Gardening,"  Walpole's  famous  "  Essay  on  Modern 
Gardening,"  and  last,  but  not  least,  Thomas 
Whately's  "Observations  on  Modern  Gardening." 

Loudon   claims   for   the    latter   that    it   is    "  the 


ON  GARDENS  41 

grand  fundamental  and  standard  work  on  English 
Gardens."  Mason,  the  poet,  declared  that  "  Bacon 
was  the  prophet,  Milton  the  herald  of  modern 
Gardening,  and  Addison,  Pope,  and  Kent  the 
champions  of  the  taste."  It  is  amusing  to  find  that 
both  schools  claim  Bacon  and  Milton  as  exponents 
of  their  views. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  old  Formal  Garden 
lost  its  simplicity  and  became  filled  with  intricate 
devices  which  needed  moderation,  but  not  destruc- 
tion. The  reformers  who  stepped  in  to  remove  this 
prodigality  of  absurd  taste  fell  into  exactly  the 
same  fault,  in  a  different  direction,  as  that  they 
attempted  to  correct. 

Perhaps  Sir  Walter  Scott  shows  most  clearly  the 
merits  of  both  schools  in  his  "  Essay  on  Landscape 
Gardens,"  written  in  1828,  taking  for  "his  keynote 
the  choice  of  the  best  that  has  been  done  in  design- 
ing, laying  out,  '  composing '  or  building  Gardens 
in  every  age,  adapted  to  the  particular  site  and 
its  material  and  architectural  surroundings." 

To-day,  from  the  vast  advance  of  horticulture, 
the  face  of  a  Garden  is  entirely  changed.  Flowers 
exist  and  grow  in  English  Gardens  that  the  old 
Gardeners  never  even  dreamt  of,  much  less  could 
imagine  in  their  Gardens.  Tropical  trees  help  to 
shade  modern  Lawns,  and  the  people  who  walk  on 
them  have  changed  as  greatly  as  the  flowers  in 
their  Gardens  by  which  they  are  surrounded. 


42          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Travelling  and  science  have  both  indirectly 
touched  Gardens.  And  though  individuality  is 
supposed  to  have  been  checked  in  the  last  century 
and  to  be  dying  hard  in  this,  in  the  Gardens  of 
to-day  it  is  to  be  found  on  every  side.  No  one 
feels  bound  to  follow  any  distinct  style — flowers  run 
riot,  or  a  bedding-out  system  is  followed,  or  more 
often  still  the  individual  taste  of  the  owner  steps 
in  and  moulds  the  Garden  to  his  wish.  Individuality 
alas !  does  not  mean  charm ;  that  is  rarely  met  with 
in  the  Gardens  of  to-day.  There  are  beautiful 
flowers  and  lovely  green  grass,  but  the  charm  which 
used  to  linger  in  the  beautiful  Gardens  designed  by 
Evelyn,  and  in  such  Gardens  as  Moor  Park,  Chis- 
wick,  and  Nonsuch,  has  fled.  Charm  seems  to 
belong  to  the  days  when  people  wrote,  thought 
about,  and  planned  their  Gardens — not  only  grew 
flowers  in  them. 

It  is  the  design,  the  simplicity  of  line — which  the 
Terraces  and  old  Yew  hedges,  cool  and  green, 
gave  to  a  Garden — that  are  now  lacking.  The 
gorgeous  display  of  flowers,  perfect  in  colour,  wants 
the  shadow  of  the  old  Yews  as  a  background,  to 
form  a  contrast  and  throw  up  their  brilliance. 

It  is  this  lack  of  contrast  and  arrangement  that 
is  partly  responsible  for  the  absence  of  charm  in 
most  modern  Gardens.  Charm  goes  with  propor- 
tion and  simplicity,  such  as  is  found  in  the  old 
Formal  Garden.  However  well  the  colour  scheme 


ON  GARDENS  43 

in  a  Garden  is  arranged,  though  it  may  give  pleasure 
to  the  eye,  it  will  not  give  charm  to  the  Garden. 
There  still  remains  in  the  minds  of  a  few  a  desire 
to  design  the  Garden  in  accordance  with  the  house, 
and  many  old  Gardens  altered  in  the  days  of  Brown 
and  Repton  have  been  as  far  as  possible  restored 
to  their  original  state.  But  the  mystical  charm  that 
hovered  in  the  olden  days  like  a  perfumed  fragrance 
over  beautiful  Gardens,  is  only  to  be  found  in  those 
with  a  past.  For  what  word  conjures  up  such 
varied  memories,  such  delights  of  light  and  colour, 
or  such  fragrant  sadness  as  the  word  Garden?  It 
fills  the  mind  with  visions  of  the  past,  joys  of  people 
long  beyond  earth's  beauty ;  yet  the  memory  of  the 
paths  they  trod,  the  scent  of  the  flowers  that  they 
loved,  the  Gardens  that  they  planned,  and  planted, 
and  made  beautiful,  do  they  not  remain  an  ever- 
lasting heritage? 


ABBOTSBURY,  DORSETSHIRE 


"  Now  hath  Flora  robbed  her  bowers 
To  befriend  this  place  with  flowers." 

THOMAS  CAMPION 


II 

ABBOTSBURY,  DORSETSHIRE 

A  X  TITH  what  amazement  and  wonder  would 
V  V  Parkinson — who  travelled  for  forty  years 
collecting  rare  treasures  for  his  Garden — have 
gazed  on  Abbotsbury  with  its  beautiful  mass  of 
flowers  and  trees,  a  perfect  treasure-house  of  rare 
plants ! 

It  was  this  same  John  Parkinson,  author  of 
"  Paradisi-in-Sole,  Paradisus  Terrestris" — one  of  the 
most  fascinating  of  the  Elizabethan  Garden  books 
— who  roughly  divides  flowers  into  two  sections 
"  English  Flowers "  and  "  Outlandish  Flowers." 
Of  the  latter  he  says  :  "  Flowers  that  being  strangers 
unto  us,  and  giving  the  beauty  and  bravery  of  their 
colours  so  early,  before  many  of  our  owne-bred 
flowers,  the  more  to  entice  us  to  their  delight." 
Abbotsbury  is  indeed  a  Garden  of  "  Outlandish 
Flowers  "  ;  in  fact,  a  sub-tropical  Garden  by  reason 
of  the  rareness  of  "the  strangers  "  within  its  beds. 
Just  beyond  the  little  old-world  village  of 


48          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Abbotsbury,  which  is  hidden  away  in  a  valley 
between  Weymouth  and  Bridport,  lies  this  sub- 
tropical Garden  belonging  to  Mary,  Countess  of 
Ilchester.  Sheltered  under  a  hill  which  rises 
between  it  and  the  sea,  high  walls  and  old  Ilex 
trees  protecting  it  even  further  from  all  cold  winds, 
so  successfully  is  it  screened  that  foreign  plants 
of  all  kinds  will  grow  and  flourish  in  it,  such 
as  Himalayan  and  Sikkim  Rhododendrons, 
Bamboos,  Mimosa,  Eucalyptus  in  thirty  varieties, 
Aloes,  Agaves,  the  New  Zealand  Laburnum 
(Edwardsia  Grandiflora)  with  its  yellow  Papilio- 
metus  flowers,  being  a  tree  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  high ;  also  a  Chilian  plant,  Crinodendron 
Hookeri,  which  grows  to  a  height  of  about  seven 
feet,  and  is  covered  with  blooms  of  scarlet 
pendulous  flowers,  and  other  little-known  plants 
such  as  Cistus,  Thea  Bohea  (the  common  tea), 
Vaccinium  Ovatum),  Jamesia  Americana,  Eucry- 
phia.  For  every  part  of  the  world,  Japan,  China, 
America,  Australia,  etc.,  has  been  called  upon  to 
contribute  something  to  this  "Earthly  Paradise"! 
This  is  indeed  a  Garden  in  the  popular  sense  of 
the  word,  viz.,  a  Garden  filled  to  overflowing  with 
flowers,  a  Garden  which  rejoices  at  every  season  of 
the  year  in  gay  blossoms.  In  Spring,  more 
particularly  from  February  to  May,  it  is  a  perfect 
blaze  of  colour,  with  a  rippling  carpet  of  yellow 
Daffodils,  Narcissi,  Jonquils,  and  Polyanthus,  and 


FALCONERI  RHODODENDRONS,   ABBOTSBURY 


ABBOTSBURY  49 

all  the  foreign  glories  of  Azaleas  of  every  hue, 
while  Camellias,  waxen  white  and  coral  pink, 
bloom  generally  from  January  on  to  the  end  of 
May. 

When  to  these  are  added  Rhododendrons  and 
Magnolias — (one  of  the  most  interesting  genera 
grown  here,  and  embracing  practically  the  whole 
of  the  species  and  varieties,  including  the 
beautiful  Pink  Campbelli,  a  tree  quite  thirty  feet 
in  height) — imagination  can  hardly  picture  such  a 
Garden,  much  less  pen  describe  it ! 

The  avenue  leading  to  this  wonderful  galaxy 
of  flowers  is  bordered  with  Ilex  trees,  strangely 
un-English  in  character,  and  giving  the  keynote  to 
the  Garden  beyond.  These  Ilex  trees  proved  so 
difficult  to  grow  that  at  last  Pampas  Grass  was 
planted  to  shelter  the  young  trees  from  the 
strong  winds — an  arrangement  which  has  been  so 
successful  that  the  Ilex  trees  have  grown  to  a 
height  of  over  twenty-five  feet,  and  have  almost 
completely  ousted  the  Pampas  Grass. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  realise  the  various  phases 
that  this  beautiful  Garden  must  have  passed 
through,  though  there  is  no  actual  record  of 
them.  The  style  of  the  Garden  at  the  present 
time  is  that  of  Irregular  planting,  "a.rAnglaise" — a 
most  successful  treatment  in  this  case  on  account  of 
the  glorious  flowers  that  are  for  ever  bursting  their 
buds  in  the  sunshine. 


50         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

In  1026  Ore,  the  steward  of  King  Canute's  Royal 
Palace,  founded  a  Society  of  Secular  Canons  at 
Abodesbury  (as  Abbotsbury  was  then  called). 
But  it  is  not  exactly  known  whether  it  was  Ore 
or  his  wife  Tola  (after  she  became  a  widow)  who 
turned  the  Society  into  a  Monastery  of  the 
Benedictine  Order,  dedicated  to  S.  Peter,  as  was 
the  chapel,  built  in  the  same  little  village  of 
Abbotsbury,  by  a  priest  named  Bertulfus,  thus 
giving  the  village  an  interest  dating  back  to  the 
time  when  Christianity  first  came  to  the  Britons. 
Traces  and  picturesque  ruins  of  the  former  glory 
of  this  celebrated  monastery  remain  to  this  day, 
and  seem  still  to  dominate  the  village  though  the 
abbots  and  monks  have  all  long  since  passed  away. 
Those  were  times  in  which  the  art  of  building 
was  understood  in  its  finest  sense  as  the  old  Tithe 
Barn  and  Pigeoncote  still  standing,  and  in  use, 
testify,  as  well  as  the  chapel  dedicated  to  S. 
Catherine  which  stands  as  strong  and  sturdy  as 
on  the  day  it  was  built.  Of  these  magnificent 
builders  Ruskin  wrote  truly  :  "  Of  them  and  their 
life  and  their  toil  upon  the  earth,  one  reward,  one 
evidence  is  left  to  us  in  those  grey  heaps  of  deep 
wrought  stone.  They  have  taken  with  them  to 
the  grave  their  powers,  their  honours,  and  their 
errors,  but  they  have  left  us  their  adoration." 

The  old  chapel  (which  stands  overshadowing 
the  monastery  buildings),  with  its  beautifully  carved 


ABBOTSBUBY  £1 

stone  roof  and  curious  stone  buttresses,  is  almost 
forgotten.  No  one  goes  to  pray  there  now  unless, 
indeed,  it  be  one  of  the  village  girls  who  goes  up 
on  her  marriage  eve  to  invoke  the  good  offices  of 
S.  Catherine,  ever  the  patron  saint  of  maidens. 
West  of  the  Abbey,  on  the  side  of  S.  Catherine's 
Down,  lies  a  field  of  fourteen  acres,  said  to  have 
been  the  Abbot's  Garden.  It  still  bears  that  name. 
With  its  Terraces  and  fishponds  it  is  easy  in  thought 
to  repeople  it  with  the  monks,  who  dug  there  long 
ago  among  the  Vines  or  lazily  fished  for  their 
Friday's  fare. 

A  Garden  in  those  days  was  only  to  be  found 
within  a  monastery  or  convent  walls,  and  was 
essentially  a  thing  of  use,  not  pleasure  ;  vegetables 
were  grown  because  they  were  the  staple  food,  and 
the  "herbularis,"  or  Physic  Garden,  was  cultivated 
so  that  the  herbs  it  contained  might  be  made  use 
of  as  drugs. 

It  is  not  till  the  fourteenth  century  that  much  can 
be  gathered  about  these  early  Monastic  Gardens, 
but  once  written  accounts  were  kept  all  sorts  of 
interesting  and  amusing  details  are  recorded,  such 
as — the  cost  of  the  gloves  allowed  for  weeding, 
"7/-";  for  extracting  "mosse"  from  the  cloister 
green,  "  6d."  The  love  of  appearances  was  evi- 
dently as  strong  in  those  days  as  in  these ! 

During  those  old  monastic  times  every  one  appears 
to  have  laid  claim  to  a  Garden,  for  the  plans  still 


52          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

existing  show  that  there  was  one  large  Garden, 
then  the  Prior's  Garden,  the  Canon's  Garden,  the 
Sacristy  Garden,  as  well  as  the  Infirmary  and 
Kitchen  Gardens.  Bede  early  testifies  to  the 
English  climate  being  suitable  for  the  Vine,  and 
there  is  little  doubt  that  at  Abbotsbury  there  must 
have  been  a  Vineyard,  as  few  monasteries  were 
without  them,  the  monks  being  especially  clever 
in  cultivating  the  Vine.  Long  before  the  monastery 
was  built  or  the  village  existed,  the  swans  had 
made  themselves  a  home  here;  down  past  the  church, 
the  barn,  and  the  mill,  at  the  end  of  a  steep-banked 
Dorset  lane  overhung  with  Elms,  lies  the  celebrated 
swannery,  granted  by  King  Canute  to  the  monastery 
by  a  Royal  Saxon  Charter,  which  the  present 
owner,  Lord  Ilchester,  still  possesses.  Seen  in 
the  spring  the  swannery  is  a  wonderful  sight,  with 
all  the  swans  nesting  close  together  on  the  low 
ground  bordering  the  Fleet  inlet,  and  sheltered  by 
the  curious  high  bank  of  shingle,  called  Chesil  Beach. 
There  are  as  many  as  four  or  five  hundred  nests  to 
be  seen,  the  hen  bird  sitting  while  the  cock  mounts 
guard  beside  her.  Swans  are  among  the  few  birds 
that  take  it  in  turns  to  sit  on  the  eggs,  and  fre- 
quent fights  occur  between  the  cock  birds  of  the 
adjoining  nests  when  they  go  off  to  feed  ;  in  this 
way  many  young  cygnets  are  killed.  The  swans 
fly  for  many  miles  down  the  coast,  and  have  some- 
times been  found  as  far  distant  as  Milford  Haven ; 


ABBOTSBURY  53 

they  are  all  marked  by  a  slit  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  "  I  "  made  in  the  web  of  the  foot  when 
quite  young. 

It  was,  of  course,  Henry  VIII.  who  wrested 
Abbotsbury  from  the  Church,  and  after  the  final 
dissolution  of  the  monasteries  he  gave  the  abbey 
and  lands  to  Giles  Strangeways,  knight,  who  out 
of  its  ruins  built  himself  a  "  fair  mansion  house," 
where  he  and  the  Strangeways  family  often  lived 
till  it  was  destroyed  during  the  Civil  Wars,  and 
with  it,  unhappily,  the  only  register  of  the  monastery 
known  to  have  existed,  which  register  had  been  in 
the  possession  of  the  Strangeways  ever  since  the 
lands  became  their  property. 

During  the  Parliamentary  Wars  Abbotsbury  was 
stormed  on  November  6,  1644,  by  Sir  Anthony 
Ashley  Cooper,  who  was  in  command  of  Cromwell's 
forces  in  Dorset.  A  very  interesting  report  written 
by  him  to  the  Committee  of  the  Parliament  in 
Dorsetshire,  still  exists,  describing  the  storming  of 
the  house  which  belonged  to  Sir  John  Strangeways, 
a  staunch  Royalist.  When  the  house  was  finally 
taken,  by  being  set  fire  to,  the  gunpowder  magazine 
below  it  blew  up,  killing  many  of  the  Parliamentary 
soldiers  who  had  entered  it  in  search  of  plunder.  Sir 
Anthony  in  his  report  says  of  one  man,  "Lieutenant 
Hill,  who  went  a  volunteer  and  was  sent  in  to  get 
out  the  soldiers,  was  blown  up  with  the  rest,  yet 
since  we  have  taken  him  strongly  out  of  the 


54          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

rubbish  and  hope  to  preserve  him."  His  descrip- 
tions also  of  the  fighting  sounds  very  desperate, 
with  its  guns,  grenades,  fire-balls,  flaming  furze 
faggots,  and  scaling  ladders. 

Nothing  now  remains  of  this  house  but  one  Ivy- 
covered  gable,  and  the  Strangeways  family,  after 
the  Civil  Wars,  added  to  and  took  up  their  abode 
in  the  Manor  House  (which  is  now  used  as  a 
rectory  and  stands  opposite  the  church)  until  1780, 
when  the  first  Lady  Ilchester  built  the  present 
castle,  close  to  the  sea  and  a  mile  from  the  village. 
Lady  Ilchester's  eldest  daughter,  Lady  Susan  Fox- 
Strangeways  —  whose  romantic  marriage  with 
Mr.  O'Brien,  the  actor,  was  the  talk  of  the  town 
and  recorded  by  Walpole  and  all  the  gossips  of 
the  day — mentions  in  her  diary  (still  preserved  at 
Melbury)  having  assisted  at  her  mother's  removal 
into  the  new  house  in  1780,  and  planned  the  Rock 
Gardens  in  front  of  it,  sloping  down  to  the  sea, 
with  stone  Arbours  at  each  of  the  four  corners  to 
give  shelter  from  whichever  quarter  the  wind 
might  blow. 

The  Rock  Garden  she  made,  the  Fig  trees  she 
planted,  and  the  Arbours  she  built  are  there  un- 
changed, and  have  an  eighteenth-century  air  about 
them,  forming  a  veritable  "  souvenir  heureux  "  of  a 
very  charming  woman.  Seventy  or  eighty  varieties 
of  Mesembryanthemum  (commonly  known  as  Ice 
Plant)  run  wild  over  the  stones  ;  and  Orange  Mari- 


ABBOTSBURY  55 

golds  (single  and  double),  Yellow  Auricula,  Calceo- 
laria, and  Aubretia  bloom  all  the  winter  through, 
and  the  early  kind  of  Polyanthus  Narcissi  can 
generally  be  picked  here  before  Christmas,  and 
from  February  onwards  they  flower  profusely. 
The  Garden  at  Abbotsbury  was  begun  a  few  years 
after  the  castle  was  built,  and  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away  from  it ;  great  improvements  were  made  in  it 
by  William,  fourth  Earl  of  Ilchester,  who  was  a 
well-known  botanist  in  his  day.  Being  in  the 
diplomatic  service  for  many  years,  and  living 
abroad,  he  was  able  to  collect  plants  from  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

The  fifth  (and  late)  Lord  Ilchester  was  equally  as 
devoted  to  the  care  of  this  Garden  as  his  ancestors 
were,  and  he  and  Lady  Ilchester  (the  present  owner) 
have  enlarged  it  to  over  treble  its  original  size,  and 
it  is  now  one  of  the  finest  collections  in  England. 
In  1899  a  catalogue  was  printed  by  Lady  Ilchester 
of  all  the  different  plants  growing  in  the  Garden, 
and  the  number  amounted  to  over  5,000,  and  the 
list  is  always  being  added  to. 

Adjoining  the  house  a  large  Winter  Garden 
has  just  been  built,  which  is  used  chiefly  for 
plants  which  flower  during  the  winter  ;  the  walls 
are  covered  with  climbing  plants,  and  also  the 
greater  part  of  the  roof; — the  Kennedyas,  for 
instance,  are  represented  by  nearly  a  dozen  species, 
the  best  being  Rubicunda  and  Violaca.  Tacsonias 


56          A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

are  represented  by  four  species ;  the  free-flowering 
Van  Volxemii  and  the  fiery  red  Ignea  are  the 
finest.  Everything  is  planted  out,  as  a  flowerpot 
is  forbidden  inside  the  Winter  Garden  at  any  time. 
In  one  part  of  the  Garden  there  is  a  collection  of 
Acacias  which  flower  from  December  to  May, 
and  particularly  fine  is  the  Nicotiana  Glauca,  with 
its  pale  yellow  trumpet-flowers.  Another  yellow 
flower  is  the  Candollea  Cuneiformi,  a  hard-wooded 
plant  from  Western  Australia,  which  is  never  out 
of  bloom. 

On  the  little  Rockeries  grow  rare  Iris,  Narcissi, 
and  Muscari,  which  flower  early  in  the  year. 

Some  of  the  distinct  features  of  the  Garden  are 
Plumbago,  Clianthus,  Streptosolen,  and  Rhodo- 
chiton — all  greenhouse  climbers  which  will  stand 
the  very  moderately  severe  winter  Abbotsbury 
experiences. 

The  wild  Garden  is  an  interesting  innovation  of 
Lord  Ilchester's  made  within  the  last  two  or  three 
years.  A  brook  runs  right  through  it  crossed  by 
various  bridges,  and  at  intervals  are  small  ponds 
bordered  by  Arum  Lilies,  Sagittari  and  Apono- 
geton,  Nymphaes,  and  other  water-plants  ;  on  either 
side  of  the  stream  a  choice  selection  of  trees  are 
planted,  and  below  them  grow  various  British 
plants,  also  Comfrey,  and  the  wild  Ragged  Robin, 
Campion,  and  Hyacinths  are  allowed  to  grow 
there  undisturbed. 


ALBURY,    SURREY 


"Now  birds  record  new  harmony; 
And  trees  do  whistle  melody ! 
Now  everything  that  Nature  heeds 
Doth  clad  itself  in  pleasant  weeds." 

THOMAS  WATSON 


Ill 

ALBURY,    SURREY 

OF  all  the  fascinating  characters  of  the  Restora- 
tion, none  was  more  wholly  delightful  or 
exercised  a  wider  influence  over  his  contemporaries 
than  John  Evelyn.  Living  in  the  times  of 
Charles  I.,  Oliver  Cromwell,  Charles  II.,  James  II., 
and  William  III.,  though  a  pronounced  Royalist, 
he  was  yet  respected  by  Cromwell — no  lover  of  the 
King's  friends — and  much  sought  after  by  both  the 
learned  and  the  rich  for  the  charm  of  his  conversa- 
tion and  the  greatness  of  his  abilities.  Evelyn  has 
left  behind  him  two  living  evidences  of  his  genius — 
his  books  and  his  Gardens.  Of  his  many  books 
the  one  best  known  to-day  is  his  Diary — a  veritable 
treasure-house  of  customs,  habits,  and  fashions  at 
one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  of  history.  And 
his  Gardens  have  justly  earned  for  him  the  title  of 
the  Greatest  of  England's  Garden  Philosophers. 
Infinite  charm  is  to  be  found  in  the  Gardens  de- 
signed by  Evelyn — a  charm  apparently  lost  in  these 


60          A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

modern  days,  and  which  no  well-intentioned  copy 
ever  achieves.  So  subtle  and  delicate  is  it  that 
it  only  lingers  in  the  Gardens  that  he  not  merely 
designed  but  whose  progress  was  his  personal 
care. 

How  strongly  the  spirit  of  the  man  (who,  Horace 
Walpole  says,  "  really  was  the  neighbour  of  the 
Gospel,  for  there  was  no  man  that  might  not  have 
been  the  better  for  him ")  dwells  in  his  Gardens 
can  best  be  realised  by  those  who  have  paced  the 
Terraces  at  Albury  Park,  belonging  to  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland,  one  of  the  many  English  Gardens 
which  owes  its  chief  beauties  to  Evelyn's  genius. 
This  Albury  Park  is  often  mentioned  in  the  Diary  ; 
the  first  allusion  to  it  being  in  1648,  when  Evelyn 
went  to  visit  the  Countess  of  Arundel  ;  Albury 
Place  (as  it  was  then  called)  having  been  purchased 
from  the  Duncombes  by  the  Earl  of  Arundel  and 
becoming  for  some  years  the  residence  of  the 
Dukes  of  Norfolk. 

Again,  in  1655,  Evelyn  writes:  "I  went  to 
Alburie  to  visit  Mr.  Howard,  who  had  begun  to 
build  and  alter  the  Gardens  much."  Then  on 
June  19,  1662:  "I  went  to  Alburie  to  visit  Mr. 
Henry  Howard  soon  after  he  had  procured  the 
Dukedom  to  be  restored.  We  hunted  and  killed  a 
buck  in  the  Park,  Mr.  Howard  inviting  most  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  country  near  him."  But  it  is  not 
till  1667  that  he  mentions  the  part  he  played  in 


ALBURY  61 

laying  out  the  Garden.  In  September  the  diarist 
notes :  "  I  accompanied  Mr.  Howard  to  his  villa  at 
Albury  where  I  designed  for  him  the  plot  for  his 
canall  and  Garden,  with  a  crypt  thro'  the  hill." 
And  in  1670  :  "  To  Alburie  to  see  how  the  Garden 
proceeded,  which  I  found  exactly  don  to  the  designe 
and  plot,  I  had  made  with  the  crypta  thro'  the 
mauntaine  in  the  park,  30  perches  in  length.  Such 
a  Pausillippe  is  no  where  in  England  besides.  The 
canal  now  digging  and  the  vineyard  planted." 
It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  little  of  the  "designe 
and  plot  "  has  been  changed. 

The  long,  green  Terraces  are  flanked  by  wide 
Herbaceous  Borders,  which  in  summer  glow  with 
white  Clematis,  sweet-scented  Roses,  Crimson 
Ramblers,  and  delicate  pink  Moss  buds.  Gay 
Poppies,  red  and  yellow,  Foxglove  with  its  velvet 
leaves,  pale  mauve  Iris,  and  the  commoner  stately 
Purple  Flags,  Delphiniums  pale  and  dark  blue, 
straight  pointing  to  the  sky,  and  Peonies  bent 
earthwards,  are  also  to  be  found  there. 

Full  of  scent,  colour,  and  song  are  these  beautiful 
Terraces,  for  in  this  happy  Garden  birds — many  rare 
ones,  such  as  golden  oriels,  among  the  number — 
enjoy  such  complete  liberty  that  they  gladly 
make  their  homes  here  in  the  trees.  On  the  red- 
brick walls,  designed  by  Evelyn,  on  which  these 
Terraces  are  raised,  wall  Creepers  grow  in  tangled 
masses,  and  Lavender  bushes  in  wild  profusion 


62          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

shine  silver-grey  in  the  sunlight.  In  the  midst  of 
the  upper  Terrace  there  stands  a  semicircular  basin 
and  fountain,  behind  which  runs  a  red-brick  wall, 
alcoved  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  crypta 
or  subterranean  passage,  being  a  short  cut  to  the 
house.  It  is  supposed  that  the  alcoves  were  ori- 
ginally meant  to  hold  lead  or  stone  statues.  This  all 
speaks  of  the  wave  that  was  passing  over  Europe, 
and  had  already  touched  England,  the  love  of 
Renaissance  architecture  and  design ;  for  the  semi- 
circular stone  water-basin  which  fills  the  recess,  its 
straight  edge  bringing  the  curve  into  line  with  the 
Terrace,  points  to  the  Italian  feeling.  On  one 
side  of  the  water-basin  stands  the  little  low  fountain 
which  bubbles  up  for  ever,  fed  by  the  wonderful 
Shireburn  springs,  the  water  being  celebrated  for 
its  coolness  and  purity.  Water  was  just  the  one 
beauty  that  these  green  Terraces  might  have  lacked  ; 
this  splashing  little  fountain  and  pond  filled  with 
darting  goldfish,  sweet-smelling  Water  Soldier  with 
its  glossy  leaves  and  waxen  flowers,  have  made 
them  perfect. 

The  crypta,  mentioned  with  such  pride  by  Evelyn, 
is  quite  twelve  feet  in  height  and  wonderfully  dry ;  it 
has  only  needed  new  brickwork  to  strengthen  the 
entrance  which  was  endangered  by  the  weight  of  a 
splendid  oak  on  the  hill  above,  whose  branches 
spread  out  over  the  water  below.  Mr.  Bray  men- 
tions, in  his  notes  on  Evelyn's  Diary,  that  he  adopted 


ALBURY  63 

the  word  Pausillippe,  as  a  name  for  a  subterranean 
passage,  from  the  famous  grotto  of  Pausyllipo  at 
Naples.  In  an  old  book  called  "The  Natural 
History  and  Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Surrey," 
by  John  Aubrey,  written  in  1718,  there  is  a  curious 
statement  concerning  the  crypta  which  is  difficult  to 
credit,  viz.,  the  force  of  the  Shireburn  springs  was 
employed  to  clear  the  passage  through  the  hill,  a 
method  devised  by  Captain  George  Evelyn,  a  great 
traveller  and  a  kinsman  of  John  Evelyn's. 

This  extraordinary  story  must  have  had  some 
foundation  as  Evelyn  never  contradicts  it  in  the 
many  notes  he  made  to  Aubrey's  book,  in  which 
the  size  of  the  Vineyard  at  Albury  is  mentioned  as 
twelve  acres,  and  Evelyn  alludes  to  its  existence  in 
his  Diary.  It  was  the  fashion  of  that  day  to  plant 
Vineyards  in  Gardens,  but  few  have  survived  the 
chances  and  changes  of  the  years  till  now.  Addi- 
tional proof  of  this  Vineyard's  existence  is  found 
in  Vertue's  description  of  Hollar's  celebrated  en- 
gravings, where  we  find  a  reference  to  his  "  Albury 
in  Surrey,  the  seat  of  Lord  Arundel  with  its  vine- 
yard." There  are  also  six  very  curious  views  of 
the  Park  by  the  same  artist.  The  Park  can  be 
entered  by  the  doors  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
alcoves  in  the  brick  wall,  behind  the  circular  basin 
and  fountain,  and  is  filled  with  splendid  trees  ;  the 
Oaks  and  Cedars  being  quite  exceptionally  fine,  and 
also  a  rare  kind  of  Fir  tree.  England,  it  is  said  by 


64          A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

those  who  know,  is  greatly  indebted  to  Evelyn  for 
many  beautiful  trees,  and  if  this  is  the  case  no 
doubt  Albury  Park  owes  its  glorious  trees  to  the 
same  hand. 

At  the  top  of  the  hill  in  the  Park  runs  an  ancient 
path,  worn  by  the  feet  of  many  pilgrims  on  their 
way  from  the  city  of  Winchester  to  Canterbury, 
and  the  memory  of  their  journeys  to  and  fro  still 
clings  to  it,  as  it  is  always  known  by  the  name  of 
"  The  Pilgrim's  Way." 

To  return  to  the  grass  Terraces  with  their  flowers, 
brick  walls,  fountain,  and  crypta — in  all  of  which 
lies  the  charm  of  Evelyn's  work. 

Each  Terrace  has  its  special  feature  ;  the  upper 
one,  the  water-basin,  fountain,  and  strange  sub- 
terranean passage  through  the  hill  ;  while  to  the 
lower  belongs  the  beauty  of  a  very  fine  Yew-tree 
hedge  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  Terrace — 
(which  is  much  wider  than  the  upper  one) — the 
hedge  serving  as  a  screen  to  shut  off  the  kitchen 
Garden.  Here,  too,  the  old  brick  wall  is  a  mass 
of  sweet-smelling  Roses,  Lavender  bushes,  and 
Ilex  trees  leaning  down  over  it  from  the  Terrace 
above. 

Evelyn  claims  to  have  been  the  first  to  make  use 
of  Yews  for  hedges — in  fact,  to  be  the  first  to  bring 
them  into  fashion  ;  he  may  well  lay  claim  to  any- 
thing to  do  with  Gardens  and  their  love,  as  there 
was  little  he  did  not  know  himself  or  learn  from 


ALBURY  65 

La  Quintinye,  whose  book,  "  The  Complete 
Gardiner,"  he  translated  into  English. 

The  Yew  hedge  at  Albury  is  quite  remarkable 
in  its  way  :  "It  is  rather  a  row  of  Yew  trees  the 
trunks  of  which  are  bare  and  the  tops  of  which 
form  one  solid  head  of  about  ten  feet  high,  while 
the  bottom  branches  come  out  on  each  side  of  the 
row  about  eight  feet  horizontally.  The  grand  old 
Hedge  is  quite  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long.  There  is 
a  wide  gravel  path,  that  runs  parallel  with  it  and  is 
the  most  delightful  walk  in  summer  or  winter." 

It  is  supposed  that  Evelyn  intended  in  his  design 
to  terrace  the  whole  of  the  Gardens  at  Albury. 
Opinions  differ  as  to  the  merit  of  this  idea,  and  the 
present  design  of  the  two  Terraces,  and  the  Irregular 
Garden  is  much  admired  with  its  fine  trees,  Rose 
Garden,  and  winding  river.  On  a  summer  day  it 
is  a  delightful  walk,  up  to  the  green  Terraces — along 
gravel  paths,  richly  planted  with  handsome  trees, 
and  across  a  rustic  bridge,  past  a  Rose  Garden 
laid  out  in  old-fashioned  shaped  beds. 

All  this  part  of  the  Garden  owes  its  irregular 
charm  of  arrangement  to  the  sixth  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, who  planted  the  splendid  row  of  Limes 
along  one  of  the  prettiest  paths,  their  tall,  grey 
stems  contrasting  delicately  in  the  sunlight  with 
the  masses  of  many-coloured  Rhododendrons, 
appearing  in  the  undergrowth  on  each  side. 

These  Gardens  are  so  judiciously  placed,  facing 


66          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

south  and  sheltered  from  harsh  winds,  that  many 
plants  and  ferns  can  be  grown  with  ease,  such  as 
Azaleas  and  the  Osmunda  Fern ;  the  latter  flourishes 
regally,  there  hardly  being  finer  specimens  to  be 
seen,  even  in  Ireland,  so  famous  for  the  graceful 
grandeur  of  this  fern.  It  is  a  case  of  walking  up 
and  up  to  reach  the  kitchen  Gardens  and  Orchards, 
each  distinct  by  itself,  enclosed  within  hedges  (in 
which  these  Gardens  greatly  excel),  the  Gardens 
being  cut  into  squares  by  the  short  gravel  walks, 

After  passing  these  Gardens  the  magnificenl 
Yew  hedge  is  reached,  and  from  under  its  dark 
arch  of  green  what  a  beautiful  sight  meets  the  eye  ! 
No  wonder  Cobbett  called  these  green  Terraces  "the 
most  beautiful  thing"  he  had  ever  seen  "in  the 
Gardening  way" — being  "a  quarter  of  a  mile  long 
and  between  thirty  and  forty  feet  wide,"  and  "  oi 
the  greenest  sward,  as  level  as  a  die."  Evelyr 
evidently  did  not  think  the  pretty  windings  of  the 
Tillingbourne  stream  sufficient  water  for  his  scheme 
of  design,  hence  he  notes  "  the  canall  was  now 
digging " — which  canal  still  remains  with  a  little 
rustic  bridge  across  it ;  but  it  is  too  close  to  the 
clear  running  Tillingbourne  stream  for  the  arrange 
ment  to  be  a  happy  one,  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  is  not  quite  as  he  intended. 

The  Bath  house,  a  brick  building  which  is  sunl^ 
several  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ground,  ha< 
a  brick  floor  and  alcoved  walls  similar  to  the  wal 


ALBURY  67 

on  the  Terrace  and  meant  as  in  the  latter  case  to 
contain  busts  or  statues — thus  again  showing  the 
Italian  feeling  which  entered  so  much  into  Garden 
design  at  this  time  and  was  evidently  particularly 
admired  by  Evelyn,  who  had  seen  it  at  its  finest  in 
the  lovely  Italian  Gardens  he  visited  whilst  travel- 
ling in  Italy  and  which  he  mentions  so  often  in  his 
Diary. 

That  Evelyn  thought  Albury  Park  possessed 
great  beauties  and  possibilities  is  clearly  shown  by 
the  fact  that  he  wished  to  buy  the  property.  In  a 
letter  to  Edward  Thurland,  one  of  the  trustees,  he 
writes  of  "  his  singular  inclination  for  Albury  in 
case  (as  I  am  confident  it  will)  that  seat  be  exposed 
to  sale.  ...  I  suppose  the  place  will  invite  many 
candidates,  but  my  money  is  good." 

Whether  he  changed  his  mind  or  the  trustees 
changed  theirs  is  not  forthcoming,  as  Albury  did 
not  pass  out  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  hands  till 
much  later,  and  then  this  "darling  villa,"  as  Evelyn 
calls  it,  was  bought  by  Mr.  Henage  Finch,  the 
second  son  of  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  whose 
nickname  was  "silver  tongue,"  because  of  his 
marvellous  eloquence.  Charles  II.  made  him 
Solicitor-General,  and  he  took  a  celebrated  part 
in  the  defence  of  the  seven  Bishops,  though  his 
impetuosity  almost  proved  disastrous.  Queen  Anne 
honoured  him  further  and  George  I.  created  him 
Earl  of  Aylesford ;  and  it  is  in  connection  with 


68          A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

him  that  Evelyn  mentions  for  the  last  time  in  his 
exhaustive  Diary  the  name  of  "  Albury,"  which  he 
loved  so  well:  "August  5,  1687. — I  went  to  see 
Albury,  now  purchased  by  Mr.  Finch  (the  King's 
solicitor  and  son  to  the  late  Lord  Chancellor). 
I  found  the  Garden,  which  I  first  designed  for 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  nothing  improved." 

It  would  indeed  be  difficult  to  improve  upon 
these  green  Terraces,  which  remain  a  lasting  proof 
of  the  taste  of  John  Evelyn,  and  also  demonstrate 
most  successfully  the  power  of  a  straight  line — a 
power  noticeable  in  design  of  any  kind — and  seen 
to  great  advantage  in  the  Terraces  at  Albury.  In 
these  modern  days  when  "  Nouveau  Art "  has  done 
so  much  to  impair  the  standard  of  general  taste,  it 
is  an  unspeakable  relief  to  turn  from  the  tortured 
curves  of  various  forms  of  design  founded  in  that 
school  to  an  earlier,  simpler,  purer  taste. 


AMPTHILL    PARK,    BEDFORDSHIRE 


Second  Gentleman.    But,  I  beseech  you,  what's  become  of 

Katherine, 
The  princess  dowager  ?  how  goes  her  business  ? 

first  Gentleman.     That  I  can  tell  you  too.   The  archbishop 
Of  Canterbury,  accompanied  with  other 
Learned  and  reverend  fathers  of  his  order, 
Held  a  late  court  at  Dunstable,  six  miles  off 
From  Ampthill,  where  the  princess  lay;  to  which 
She  was  often  cited  by  them,  but  appear'd  not; 
And,  to  be  short,  for  not  appearance,  and 
The  king's  late  scruple,  by  the  main  assent 
Of  all  these  learned  men  she  was  divorc'd, 
And  the  late  marriage  made  of  none  effect : 
Since  which  she  was  removed  to  Kimbolton, 
Where  she  remains  now,  sick. 

King  Henry  VIII.,  Act  IV.,  Scene  I. 


IV 

AMPTHILL    PARK,    BEDFORDSHIRE 

TH  E  Gardens  at  Ampthill  are  not  extensive ; 
the  magnificent  trees  create  one  of  their 
chief  beauties,  and  owing  to  the  undulating  nature 
of  the  ground  their  fine  grouping  is  displayed  to 
perfection.  Among  these  trees  are  the  celebrated 
Oaks  for  which  Ampthill  is  justly  famous.  These 
trees  are  extremely  venerable,  some  being  over  five 
hundred  years  old,  and  one  claiming  to  be  the 
largest  Oak  tree  in  England. 

In  a  survey  taken  by  order  of  Parliament  in 
1653,  these  splendid  trees  were  condemned  "as 
hollow  and  unfit "  for  the  use  of  Cromwell's  navy. 
Many  names  are  associated  with  Ampthill,  but 
perhaps  the  best  remembered  is  that  of  the  proud 
daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella — Katherine  of 
Arragon,  Henry  VIII. 's  first  Queen.  Is  it  fanciful 
to  feel  that  the  embittered  Spanish  princess  has 
bequeathed  to  the  old  place  a  pervading  sensation 
of  gloom  ?  The  memory  of  her  sorrows,  her  fana- 


72          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

tical    religious    beliefs,    her    shameful     treatment, 
seems  to  haunt  for  ever  the  Gardens  and  Park. 

The  present  house  was  never  Katherine's  home. 
The  old  castle  where  she  spent  those  weary  days 
awaiting  her  sentence  has  ceased  to  exist ;  the 
Parliamentary  survey  of  Ampthill,  made  as  far  back 
as  1649,  speaks  of  "the  castle  as  long  ago  totally 
demolished."  It  must  have  been  a  regal  building, 
this  castle  built  by  Lord  Fanhope  in  the  early  years 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  with  its  turrets,  towers,  and 
courts.  Close  to  the  site  of  the  old  castle — which 
stood  on  much  higher  ground  than  the  new  house — 
is  still  to  be  seen  the  brickwork  of  an  old  well, 
encircled  by  a  group  of  fine  Elms.  Of  this  spot 
one  of  those  pretty  stories  woven  about  most  great 
houses  is  told.  The  legend  describes  Queen 
Katherine  as  sitting  here  under  the  Elm  trees 
with  her  maids  when  she  received  the  news  of 
her  divorce  from  the  King. 

The  house,  though  lower  in  position  than  the 
castle,  possesses  a  beautiful  view  over  the  Vale 
of  Bedford,  and  is  little  changed  since  it  was  built 
by  Lord  Ashburnham  in  1694.  Plain  in  type,  it 
possesses  two  deep,  projecting  wings,  a  big  frontage 
pierced  by  many  windows,  and  an  angular  pedi- 
ment bearing  the  arms  of  the  late  Lord  Ossory. 
The  chief  entrance  is  reached  by  a  flight  of 
steps. 

The  water-colour  drawing  of  Ampthill  shows  a 


THE    EAST    GARDEN,    AMPTHILL 


AMPTHILL  PARK  73 

very  charming  part  of  the  Garden,  lying  on  the 
east  side  of  the  House.  This  Garden  is  laid  out 
in  the  Dutch  style,  with  little  geometrical  beds 
edged  with  Box  and  filled  with  all  sorts  of  gay- 
coloured  flowers,  such  as  pale  blue  Ageratums,  red 
Geraniums,  French  Marigolds,  and  purple  Petunias, 
which  in  the  sunlight  of  a  summer's  day  give  a 
brilliant  effect. 

The  little  stone  Fountain,  placed  in  the  centre  of 
this  part  of  the  Garden  by  Lord  Holland,  is  quite  a 
feature.  Low,  and  shaped  like  a  vase,  it  stands  in 
a  large  basin  of  water,  which  is  surrounded  by  a 
wreath-like  border  of  Ivy  and  Periwinkle.  The 
quaint  appearance  of  this  old-fashioned  Garden  has 
been  greatly  added  to  by  the  Dowager  Lady 
Ampthill,  who  has  placed  here  at  intervals  huge 
Spanish  vases,  which  by  their  vivid  hue  give  a 
fresh  touch  of  bizarre  colour,  and  are  filled  during 
the  summer  months  with  Palms  and  Hydrangeas  of 
delicate  pink  and  mauve. 

Beyond  the  Garden  runs  a  wide  walk,  at  right 
angles  to  the  house,  leading  to  a  beautiful  narrow 
alley  of  Limes.  Standing  under  the  shade  of  their 
interlacing  boughs,  it  is  difficult  to  realise  that  the 
trees  were  not  planted  hundreds  of  years  ago, 
instead  of  by  Lady  Holland.  (Lord  Holland 
succeeded  Lord  Ossory  in  1818.)  Lady  Holland 
called  the  walk  the  Alameda,  after  the  avenue  in 
Madrid,  from  which  it  had  been  copied. 


74          A   BOOK   OF   ENGLISH   GARDENS 

The  Lime  Walk  (which  is  over  a  quarter  of  a  mill 
in  length)  rivals  similar  walks  at  Oxford  and  Cam 
bridge,  and  is  considered  by  many  people  to  be  th< 
finest  in  England.  It  is  difficult  to  decide  at  whicl 
time  of  the  year  the  Lime  Walk  looks  its  best — ii 
Spring,  when  the  trees  are  a  mass  of  fresh  buddinj 
green  leaves,  or  in  the  late  Autumn,  when  they  an 
tinged  with  the  palest  yellow.  A  distant  bu 
charming  view  of  the  house  can  be  seen  down  th< 
full  length  of  the  Lime  Avenue. 

In  another  part  of  the  Garden  there  is  a  handsomi 
Herbaceous  Border,  with  the  artistic  backgroun< 
of  tall  Yew  trees  and  various  shrubs,  the  dark  an< 
light  foliage  intensifying  the  brilliant  colour  of  th< 
flowers.  From  the  other  side  of  this  border  tli 
Lawn  slopes  down  to  the  Park,  which  in  the  earl; 
part  of  the  year  is  a  flowery  mass  of  spring  bulbs 
It  was  in  this  Park  that  Henry  VIII.  hunted 
and  had  the  deer  driven  so  that  he  and  Am 
Boleyn  might  shoot  them  with  arrows  as  the] 
passed. 

"  Mademoiselle  Ann,"  as  the  people  called  her 
prim-lipped  and  pale,  had  a  fleeting,  fatal  fascinatioi 
for  all  who  first  saw  her.  Without  mercy  sh< 
ousted  the  proud  Katherine  from  her  throne  onl] 
to  meet  in  her  turn  with  an  even  more  tragic  fate. 

The  Manor  of  Ampthill  in  very  early  day 
belonged  to  the  family  of  Albini,  from  whom  i 
passed  through  the  female  line  (as  in  so  man] 


AMPTHILL  PARK  75 

instances  old  places  do)  to   the   St.    Amands   and 
the  Beauchamps. 

From  the  Beauchamps  it  passed  by  purchase  to 
one  whose  life  might  be  described  as  being  one  long 
romance.  This  hero  was  John,  the  son  of  Sir 
John  Cornwall,  his  mother  being  the  niece  of  the 
Duke  of  Brittany.  From  the  circumstance  of  his 
birth  taking  place  at  sea,  in  the  bay  of  St.  Michael's 
Mount,  he  was  nicknamed  "  Green  Cornwall."  He 
grew  up  to  be  celebrated  for  deeds  of  valour  and 
chivalry,  and  at  York,  in  1401,  when  a  tournament 
was  held  in  honour  of  Henry  IV.,  Cornwall  defeated 
and  overthrew  in  the  King's  presence  two  knights, 
one  an  Italian,  the  other  a  Frenchman,  and  received 
from  the  King's  hand  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 
Besides  gaining  this  distinction,  he  had  the  good 
fortune  to  win  the  hand  of  the  King's  sister 
Elizabeth  (the  second  daughter  of  John,  Earl  of 
Lancaster,  generally  known  as  John  of  Gaunt), 
widow  of  the  Duke  of  Exeter.  On  their  marriage 
the  King  loaded  them  with  gifts,  and  the  Prince  of 
Wales  gave  a  large  portion  of  land  in  the  county  of 
Cornwall  to  the  bridegroom.  The  old  castle,  built 
by  Cornwall  in  honour  of  his  royal  wife,  made  the 
little  market  town  of  Ampthill  famous  through  its 
magnificence.  Leland,  "the  King's  Antiquary" 
(born  about  1506),  in  his  delightful  old  "  Itinerary," 
writes  of  Cornwall  as  a  man  of  great  fame  and  very 
rich,  and  as  having  built  the  castle  with  "  such 


76          A   BOOK   OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

spoils  that  he  wonne  in  France " ;  and  the  same 
chronicler  gives  a  description  of  the  castle,  "  its 
many  fair  towers"  and  "basse  court"  (the  outer 
court  for  stables  and  servants),  very  necessary  in 
those  days  of  huge  retinues.  Sir  John  Cornwall 
greatly  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Agincourt,  the  battle  so  splendidly  described  by 
Shakespeare,  and  for  ever  a  glorious  record  in 
English  history. 

In  due  course  the  lands  and  castle  of  Ampthill 
became  royal  property,  and  Henry  VIII.  constituted 
it  a  royal  demesne  and  called  it  the  "  Honour  of 
Ampthill." 

James  I.  is  supposed  to  have  visited  Ampthill  in 
1605  and  1621,  but  Katherine  of  Arragon  is  thought 
by  many  to  have  been  the  last  royal  person  to  stay 
within  its  walls  : 

h  Where  is  that  Castle  now,  whose  thick  ribbed  walls 

The  foe's  assault  so  oft  unshaken  bore? — 
Its  battlements  are  swept  away,  its  halls 
Are  sunk, — its  very  ruins  are  no  more ! 

And  many  a  heedless  foot  has  pressed  the  spot 
Where  once  it  stood, — till  yon  fair  Cross  arose 

Telling  a  tale  that  will  not  be  forgot, 

Of  ill-starred  Catherine, — of  her  wrongs  and  woes. 

Yes — ere  their  doom  was  sealed,  on  Ampthill  towers 

Fortune  a  ray  of  parting  glory  cast ; 
Though  graced  and  honoured  oft  in  happier  hours, 

The  noblest  guest  they  sheltered  was  the  last." 


AMPTHILL  PARK  77 

So  wrote  the  witty  Mr.  Luttrell,  Lord  Holland's 
friend,  in  his  lines  on  Ampthill  Park — a  poem  in 
which  not  one  of  its  beauties  is  left  unsung.  Well 
might  he  write  of  Katherine  as  "  ill-starred."  Proud, 
passionate,  possessed  of  that  austere  religious 
fervour  so  often  found  in  Spain,  small  wonder 
that  she  failed  to  keep  Henry's  fickle  affections, 
wandering  as  they  did  at  the  sight  of  every  new 
pretty  face.  Katherine  unfortunately  played  her  part 
most  unwisely.  Firm  in  her  religious  belief,  insist- 
ing on  the  justice  of  her  claims,  she  considered  her 
position  as  Queen  unassailable.  Unhappily  she 
was  no  fit  opponent  against  Ann  Boleyn. 

Complacent  Anne  of  Cleves  fared  better,  and 
bowed  to  her  fate,  and  was  willing,  though  the 
King's  wife,  to  be  styled  "  his  beloved  sister,"  and 
accepted  a  fair  income  and  a  goodly  house.  Not 
so  with  Katherine,  the  daughter  of  a  race  of  kings, 
born  Infanta  of  Spain,  and  wife  of  Harry  of 
England.  Nothing  could  induce  her  to  accept  any 
other  position.  The  Pope  might  consider  that  her 
marriage  ought  to  be  annulled — still,  she  was 
Queen  of  England  and  the  mother  of  Henry's 
daughter  and  his  son  who  had  died  in  infancy. 

Papers  still  exist  in  which  the  hated  words, 
"  Princess  Dowager,"  have  been  struck  out  by  her 
own  hand  and  the  word  "  Queen "  substituted. 
There  is  something  almost  terrible  in  the  inexor- 
able web  of  fate  which  wound  itself  round  Katherine, 


78          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

and  in  the  defeat  of  her  intrepid,  manlike  firmness, 
by  the  pitiless  determination  of  the  King. 

Few  can  read  of  the  scene  in  the  monastery  at 
Blackfriars  on  the  iSth  of  June,  1529,  without  being 
touched  by  the  pathetic  dignity  of  Katherine, 
pleading  for  her  love,  her.  child,  and  her  broken 
life. 

It  was  Thomas  Cranmer  who  finally  ridded  the 
King  of  his  distasteful  wife.  Meeting  Fox  and 
Gardiner,  who  were  discussing  the  divorce, 
Cranmer  suggested  an  appeal  to  the  universities  of 
Christendom.  The  idea  pleased  Henry,  though  it 
was  discovered  on  putting  it  to  the  test  that  the 
whole  of  Europe,  Protestant  and  Catholic  alike,  was 
absolutely  against  the  King.  Cranmer's  willingness 
to  prove  otherwise  stood  him  in  good  stead,  gaining 
him  later  the  see  of  Canterbury  ;  and  once  he  was 
Primate  the  Lady  Ann  felt  there  would  be  small 
doubt  as  to  her  being  Queen  of  England.  Insult 
upon  insult  was  heaped  upon  Katherine  ;  her  house- 
hold was  reduced  to  that  of  an  ordinary  person,  her 
arms  were  removed  from  Westminster  Hall ;  yet  her 
amazing  husband  wrote  exhorting  her  to  be  "quiet 
and  merry " !  From  Ampthill  Katherine  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  the  Primate's  Court  at 
Dunstable — a  command  to  which  she  was  deaf.  In 
May,  Cranmer  declared  her  marriage  null  and  void, 
and  Ann's  valid,  though  it  had  taken  place  four 
months  before  Katherine's  marriage  was  annulled. 


AMPTHILL  PARK  79 

In  the  Autumn  of  1535  Katherine  became 
seriously  ill.  Never  a  strong  woman,  the  long  years 
of  bitter  struggle  had  broken  her  health  as  well 
as  her  heart.  On  January  8,  1536,  her  brave, 
unconquered  spirit  fled  from  a  world  which  for  her 
had  been  full  of  sorrow  and  deep  humiliation. 
There  seems  no  doubt  that  her  end  was  hastened 
by  poison. 

Ampthill  Park,  where  she  spent  many  of  the 
bitterest  days  of  her  sorrow,  will  ever  be  associated 
with  the  name  of  Katherine  of  Arragon,  though 
the  old  castle  in  which  she  lived  does  not  remain 
even  as  a  ruin.  But  some  old  ground  plans  are 
still  in  existence,  giving  a  very  good  idea  of  what 
it  must  have  been.  There  is  little  of  interest  to 
record  of  Ampthill  till  the  Restoration,  when 
Charles  II.  gave  the  property  to  Mr.  John  Ash- 
burnham  in  recognition  of  what  he  had  done  for  the 
Royalist  cause.  It  was  the  first  Lord  Ashburnham 
who  built  the  existing  house.  The  Ampthill  estate 
was  bought  later  by  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  and  sold  in 
1736  to  Lady  Go  wan,  the  grandmother  of  Lord 
Ossory,  who  took  a  great  interest  in  the  beautiful 
old  place. 

Horace  Walpole  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Lady 
Ossory,  and  a  constant  visitor  at  Ampthill  Park. 
Lady  Ossory  was  a  vivacious  and  beautiful  woman, 
the  only  child  of  Lord  Ravensworth.  She  made,  in 
1756,  a  brilliant  but  miserable  marriage  with  the 


80          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

well-known  minister,  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  who  was 
so  severely  censured  in  the  "  Letters  of  Junius." 
Unable  to  tolerate  her  husband's  manner  of  life  (of 
which  Walpole  gives  a  graphic  description)  she 
divorced  him  and  married,  in  1769,  Lord  Ossory. 
To-day  she  is  chiefly  known  as  the  fervent  friend 
and  frequent  correspondent  of  Walpole.  Of 
Ampthill  this  fastidious  judge  deigns  to  say  "  that 
it  stands  finely  :  the  house  is  very  good,  and  has  a 
beautiful  park." 

The  origin  of  the  cross  put  up  in  memory  of 
Katherine  of  Arragon,  and  mentioned  in  Luttrell's 
poem,  is  discovered  in  a  letter  of  Horace  Walpole's 
to  a  friend.  "  I  have  lately  been  at  Lord  Ossory 's 
at  Ampthill,"  he  writes.  "You  know  Katherine  of 
Arragon  lived  sometime  there.  Nothing  remains 
of  the  castle,  nor  any  marks  of  residence,  but  a 
very  small  bit  of  her  garden.  I  proposed  to  Lord 
Ossory  to  erect  a  cross  to  her  memory  on  the  spot, 
and  he  will.  I  wish,  therefore,  you  could,  from  your 
collection  of  books  or  memory,  pick  out  an  authentic 
form  of  a  cross,  of  a  better  appearance  than  the 
common  run.  It  must  be  raised  on  two  or  three 
steps  :  and  if  they  were  octagon  would  it  not  be 
handsomer?  Her  arms  must  be  hung  like  an  order 
upon  it,  the  shield  appendant  to  a  collar.  We  will 
have  some  inscription  to  mark  the  cause  of 
erection."  And  later  he  wrote  again :  "  Lord 
Ossory  is  charmed  with  Mr.  Essex's  cross,  and 


AMPTHILL  PARK  81 

wishes  to  consult  him  on  the  proportions.  He  is 
determined  to  erect  it  at  Ampthill,  and  I  have 
written  the  following  lines  to  record  the  reason  : — 

"'In  days  of  old,  here  Ampthill's  towers  were  seen, 
The  mournful  refuge  of  an  injured  queen ; 
Here  flowed  her  pure  but  unavailing  tears; 
Here  blinded  zeal  sustained  her  sinking  years. 
Yet  Freedom  hence  her  radiant  banner  wav'd, 
And  love  aveng'd  a  realm  by  priests  enslav'd. 
From  Catherine's  wrongs  a  nation's  bliss  was  spread, 
And  Luther's  light  from  Henry's  lawless  bed.' 

"I  hope  the  satire  on  Henry  VIII.  will  make 
you  excuse  the  compliment  to  Luther,  which,  like 
most  poetic  compliments,  does  not  come  from  my 
heart." 

When  Walpole  saw  the  cross  he  sent  another 
letter  to  his  friend,  from  which  the  following  may 
be  quoted : — 

"  I  have  lately  been  at  Ampthill  and  saw  Queen 
Katherine's  Cross.  It  is  not  near  large  enough 
for  the  situation  and  would  be  fitter  for  a  Garden 
than  a  Park ;  but  it  is  executed  in  the  truest  and 
best  taste — Lord  Ossory  is  quite  satisfied." 

Walpole's  remarkable  correspondence  with  Lady 
Ossory  extended  from  1769  to  1797,  and  gives  a 
marvellous  insight  into  the  manners  of  the  day. 
He  addresses  her  in  a  most  stilted,  formal  way,  but 
with  all  his  formality  he  repeats  gossip  hardly  of 


82          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

a  pretty  nature  for  a  lady's  ear.  His  range  oi 
subject  is  immense,  nothing  is  too  small,  too  vulgar, 
or  too  great  for  this  fastidious  gentleman's  pen. 
The  murder  of  Miss  Ray,  the  popular  singer,  is 
given  with  coarse  details ;  and  disease  of  every 
kind  is  discussed.  The  old  cynic's  keen  eye  dis- 
covers, however,  some  good  points  in  women,  for 
in  describing  the  illness  of  Lady  Blandford  he 
makes  particular  mention  of  the  devotion  of  Miss 
Stapleton  to  her.  He  says  that  she  tended  Lady 
Blandford  from  the  first  moment  and  has  scarcely 
been  in  bed  since.  "  She  is  a  virtue  personified," 
and  a  virtue  "  with  ,£30,000,  while  Lady  Blandford 
has  nothing."  He  adds,  "  I  wish  we  had  some  of 
these  exalted  characters  in  breeches." 

Every  birth,  death,  and  marriage  is  recorded  in 
these  chronicles.  Good  advice  upon  literature  is 
freely  given  by  the  writer  who  had  seen  Pope  and 
lived  with  Gray,  and  the  fair  recipient  is  scolded 
for  not  admiring  Madame  de  Se'vigne'.  Old  houses 
are  described  with  all  the  grace  Walpole  delights 
to  use  when  writing  about  anything  old  and 
beautiful.  The  vision  of  a  glorious  Claude  and 
a  fine  Teniers  is  noted  down.  Gay  breakfasts 
and  dull  dinners  are  mixed  up  with  the  condemna- 
tion of  some  popular  actor  and  the  lauding  of  a 
pretty  actress  ;  and  though  Lady  Ossory  had  so 
"  little  dogmanity  "  the  illness  of  his  favourite  dog, 
Rosette,  is  related  to  her.  Anon  his  audacity  even 


AMPTHILL  PARK  83 

goes  so  far  as  to  admire  her  "glorious  figure"  in 
no  veiled  terms. 

Of  course  the  author  of  "Modern  Gardening" 
makes  allusions  to  flowers.  "  My  house  is  a 
bower  of  Tuberose  ; "  also  "  no  fruit,  no  flowers, 
no  blackbirds,  no  thrushes  because  of  the  belated 
summer."  In  January,  1797,  when  he  had  not  two 
months  to  live,  writing,  for  what  must  have  been 
the  last  time,  to  "his  Duchess"  (as  he  sometimes 
called  Lady  Ossory),  he  touchingly  tells  her,  "  I 
shall  be  quite  content  with  a  sprig  of  Rosemary 
thrown  after  me  when  the  parson  of  the  parish 
commits  my  dust  to  dust." 

If  Ampthill  is  bound  up  with  the  memory  of 
Katherine  of  Arragon  and  her  presence  there  in 
the  past — which  lends  it  a  perpetual  interest — it 
is  also  not  a  little  beholden  to  Horace  Walpole, 
for  his  love  of  its  inmates  and  devotion  to  its 
beauty.  Admiration  from  a  pen  so  brilliant  and 
unique  as  his,  even  if  not  always  quite  sincere,  is  a 
tribute  not  lightly  forgotten. 


ASHRIDGE,    BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 


"Of  the  Bonehoms  of  Ashrige  besyde  Barkamstede, 

That  goodly  place  to  Skelton  moost  kynde, 
Where  the  sange  royall  is  Christees  blode  so  rede 
Whereupon  he  metrefyde  after  his  mynde ; 
A  pleasaunter  place  than  Ashrige  is  harde  were  to  fynde, 
As  Skelton  rehersith  with  wordes  few  and  playne, 
In  his  distichon  made  on  verses  twaine  : 
Fraxinus  in  clivo  frondet  que  viret  sine  rivo, 
Non  est  sub  divo  similis  sine  flumine  vivo." 

— JOHN  SKELTON 


ASHRIDGE,    BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 

A  SH RIDGE  possesses  an  unique  position  in 
*~\  the  world  of  English  Gardens,  for  it  has  a 
great  past,  a  beautiful  present,  and  a  marvellous 
history. 

Though  much  of  this  last  is  shrouded  in  un- 
certainty, surmise  can  connect  the  missing  links  in 
the  chain  of  facts,  and  a  fairly  complete  story  can 
be  woven  together. 

In  the  past  the  Garden,  like  the  old  house,  was 
entirely  surrounded  with  walls.  From  ancient 
records,  it  appears  that  there  must  have  been 
within  these  walls  a  Garden  such  as  delighted  those 
who  loved  to  dwell  among  "  Mazes,"  "  intricate 
Meanders,"  "  fantastic  Yews,"  and  "  evergreen 
Sculpture" — those  "absurd  tastes,"  which  Henry 
VIII.  and  his  successors  found  pleasure  in, 
abhorred  though  they  were  by  later  generations. 

How  much  of  this  old  Garden  was  found  still 
existing  by  "Capability  Brown"  (that  eager  spoiler) 


88          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

is  unknown.  He  is  supposed  to  have  improved  the 
Park,  but  fortunately  it  retains  its  characteristic  wild 
beauty  and  the  splendid  Beech  and  Oak  trees. 

When  Humphrey  Repton  was  asked  to  make 
alterations  in  these  historic  Gardens  he  was  an  old 
man,  and  had  discovered  the  errors  of  his  ways. 

Repton's  career  was  of  a  rather  dilettante  nature. 
Designed  for  a  merchant's  office,  he  worked  but 
half-heartedly  at  acquiring  the  knowledge  necessary 
to  gain  him  a  good  position  in  the  firm.  Learning 
French  and  German  was  to  him  only  a  means  of 
enabling  him  to  discover  the  views  held  by  other 
nations  upon  Gardens  and  Garden  design.  Directly 
his  father  died,  he  threw  up  his  work  in  the  office 
and  retired  to  the  country,  where  he  cultivated  his 
Garden  at  Sustead,  and  unfortunately  helped  to 
design  other  people's.  In  those  days  Repton  was 
an  enthusiastic  admirer  and  imitator  of  Brown, 
speaking  of  him  as  "  Master." 

Fortunately,  before  every  delicious  old  Formal 
Garden  in  England  had  been  uprooted,  a  reaction 
set  in  against  the  Landscape  school.  After  the 
correspondence  between  Sir  Uvedale  Price  and 
Repton,  the  latter  was  forced  to  moderate  his  views, 
and  the  Gardens  at  Ashridge  were  undertaken, 
when  he  brought  to  bear  on  their  alteration  very 
different  ideas  to  those  he  had  held  in  earlier  days. 
"  Few  subjects,"  he  wrote,  "  excited  so  much 
interest  as  Ashridge.  When  no  longer  able  to 


ASHRIDGE  89 

undertake  the  more  extensive  plans  of  landscape, 
I  was  glad  to  contract  my  views  within  the  narrow 
circle  of  the  Garden — independent  of  its  accom- 
paniment of  the  distant  landscape.  Although  the 
Park  abounds  in  fine  woods  and  large  trees,  the 
view  from  the  windows  of  the  landscape  is  naked 
and  uninteresting.  I  was  permitted,  therefore,  to 
suggest  the  plantation  of  about  eight  acres,  and  as 
every  part  of  a  modern  Garden  is  alike  I  ventured 
boldly  to  go  back  to  those  ancient  trim  Gardens, 
which  formerly  delighted  the  venerable  inhabitants 
of  this  curious  spot,  as  appears  from  the  trim  Box 
hedges  to  the  Monks'  Garden." 

Repton  apparently  respected  the  latter,  and  also 
refrained  from  felling  to  the  ground  any  beautiful 
long  avenues  of  trees  in  order  to  gain  a  view,  though 
he  hated  them  "as  being  inconsistent  with  natural 
scenery."  One  of  Repton's  elaborate  "  Red  Books" 
was  most  likely  compiled  on  Ashridge,  giving  plans 
showing  the  alterations  and  improvements.  Some 
of  these,  judging  by  the  appearance  of  the  present 
Garden,  must  have  been  carried  out,  and  time  has 
mellowed  his  crude  touches  in  many  places. 

The  only  remains  left  of  the  monastery,  which 
stood  so  many  hundreds  of  years  ago  at  Ashridge, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Monks'  Garden,  and  consist 
of  a  red-roofed  Conventual  Barn  and  what  is  called 
the  "  Parlour  "  ;  both  of  which  appear  in  the  water- 
colour  drawing  illustrating  Ashridge. 


90          A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

The  Barn  is  enriched  with  dormer  windows  and 
a  centre  turret ;  the  front  wall  has  been  put  back 
some  feet  and  the  old  oak  posts  placed  under  the 
beams  of  the  roof,  to  form  a  covered  way  or  cloister 
walk. 

Sir  Jeffrey  Wyattville  finished  his  uncle's  elabo- 
rate design  for  the  immense  house  (begun  in 
1808),  at  the  same  time  making  a  few  improve- 
ments in  the  Gardens,  such  as  placing  stone  vases 
about  the  Lawns  and  the  Gothic  Cross  in  the 
centre  of  the  Monks'  Garden.  The  cross  forms 
a  Fountain,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  basin  of  water, 
octagonal  in  shape,  with  raised  pedestals  of  Gothic 
design  at  intervals  to  support  pots  of  flowers.  It 
has  the  appearance  of  having  been  removed  from 
some  roof,  and  is  of  painted  iron. 

The  plan  of  the  Monks'  Garden  is  square,  and 
there  is  good  authority  for  saying  that,  if  this 
Garden  is  not  the  actual  one  made  by  the  monks 
for  their  herbs  and  vegetables,  it  is  carried  out  on 
similar  lines.  Imagination,  therefore,  can  repeople 
it  with  the  grey-clad  monks  wandering  among  the 
gravel  walks  and  Box-edged  knots  which  form  this 
prototype  of  a  mediaeval  Garden — without  fear  of 
disillusion  in  the  garish  light  of  uncompromising 
fact.  Parallel  with  the  old  pillars  of  the  Barn  (now 
covered  with  creepers  and  Ivy)  is  a  long  border  in 
which  tall  Sunflowers  tower  above  the  neighbouring- 
flowers.  Beside  this  border  a  gravel  path  runs 


ASHRIDGE  91 

round  the  square  of  the  Garden.  Four  flights  of 
stone  steps  in  the  grass  slope  beyond  form  the 
entrances  to  this  Garden,  which  is  on  a  slightly 
lower  level  than  the  surrounding  ground.  These 
steps  are  very  effective,  with  their  pedestal  pillars 
and  vases  on  each  side ;  straight  gravel  paths  run 
from  them  to  the  central  Gothic  Cross,  forming 
with  the  Box-edged  knots  an  intricate  pattern. 
Many  of  these  knots  have  been  filled — from  a 
design  of  Lady  Maria  Alford  (the  mother  of 
Lord  Brownlow) — with  coloured  gravel  or  sand,  a 
very  old  custom  made  use  of  in  early  days,  but 
chiefly  copied  from  the  Dutch.  Lord  Bacon  de- 
nounced the  practice  in  no  measured  terms:  "As 
for  the  making  of  knots  or  figures,  with  divers 
coloured  earths  that  they  may  lie  under  the 
windows  of  the  house,  on  the  side  which  the 
Garden  stands — they  be  but  toys  ;  you  may  see 
as  good  sight  many  times  in  tarts  ! " 

It  may  be  a  debased  form  of  flower  Gardening, 
but  as  a  decorative  effect  it  has  great  value, 
especially  when  the  hand  which  starts  the  "sight  " 
knows  when  to  stay  it,  as  is  the  case  at  Ashridge, 
where  the  idea  is  to  give  a  kind  of  floral  inter- 
pretation of  the  arms  of  the  family. 

On  an  August  day  this  Garden  is  ablaze  with 
every  colour  of  the  rainbow,  scarlet  predominating 
owing  to  the  masses  of  brilliant  red  Geraniums. 
Opposite  the  Monks'  "  Parlour  "  are  some  Rose-beds 


92          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

and  a  lightly  made  Rose  Pergola,  which  is  con- 
tinued down  the  side  of  the  Garden  opposite  the 
Barn. 

Arcades  of  every  kind  and  Pergolas — those 
borrowed  delights — are  a  great  feature  at  Ashridge. 
They  are  everywhere,  and  almost  any  part  of 
the  Garden  can  be  reached  under  some  covered 
way.  Slight  in  construction,  these  Pergolas  are 
as  a  rule  well  placed,  having  plenty  of  air  and 
light.  The  Laburnum  Pergola  is  perhaps  unique, 
and  a  more  exquisite  sight  can  rarely  be  seen 
in  Spring  than  this  Pergola  covered  with  heavy 
yellow  flowers  like  a  "  Golden  Rain." 

Besides  the  Monks'  Garden,  there  are  many 
other  special  Gardens :  the  Herb  and  Lavender 
Garden,  the  Italian  Garden,  the  Terrace  Garden, 
and  the  Rosary.  This  last  is  in  Repton's  plan, 
but  whether  he  designed  it  or  merely  adapted 
what  already  existed  is  not  forthcoming.  At  any 
rate,  the  design,  whatever  its  origin,  is  most  happy. 

The  Rose  Garden,  or  Rosary,  is  circular  in  plan 
and  entirely  surrounded  by  a  very  high  Yew 
hedge,  through  which  solid  green  wall  are  cut 
four  entrances  opposite  each  other. 

Within  the  hedge,  and  quite  near  it,  is  a  Rose 
Arcade  constructed  of  light  stone  pillars  of  Italian 
design  connected  at  the  top  by  a  circle  of  stone, 
on  which  Roses  are  wreathed  and  trained  in 
festoons.  In  the  centre  of  the  Rosary  is  a  Fountain, 


ASHRIDGE  93 

very  plain  and  simple  in  design,  surrounded  by 
a  number  of  Rose-beds.  Charming  glimpses  of 
the  house  (framed  in  dull  green)  can  be  seen 
through  the  archways  cut  in  the  Yew  hedge. 
No  contrast  devised  by  Nature  or  Art  could  com- 
bine anything  more  beautiful  in  its  way  than  the 
transparent  delicacy  of  the  Roses  against  the  dark 
background  of  Yew. 

The  Italian  Garden  lies  on  the  north  side  of 
the  house,  and  is  well  planned,  having  in  the 
middle  a  large  stone  basin  of  water  round  which 
are  grouped  handsome  stone  vases  raised  on 
pedestals,  in  many  cases  wreathed  with  beautiful 
mauve  Clematis,  standing  in  Flower-beds  filled 
with  flowers  of  many  kinds. 

A  ring  of  Irish  Yews  cut  in  the  shape  of  trun- 
cated cones  is  placed  on  triangular-shaped  plots 
of  grass  close  to  the  stone  vases,  the  Yews  giving 
just  the  depth  of  dark  foliage  required.  The 
Flower-beds  in  this  Garden  are  cut  out  of  grass 
in  geometrical  patterns,  thus  gaining  a  grass 
border  as  well  as  an  inner  edging  of  Box,  in  some 
cases  a  double  one,  the  space  between  the  two 
rows  of  Box  being  gravelled. 

From  here  the  Lavender  and  Herb  Garden 
(which  lies  east  of  the  Italian  Garden)  may  be 
reached  by  walking  across  a  Lawn  like  velvet. 

A  Lavender  Garden  !  What  a  delight !  It  is 
a  simple  herb,  but  beloved  by  all,  and  by  none 


94          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

more  than  the  old  Garden  writers ;  for  instance, 
Parkinson  who  writes  so  prettily  of  herbs,  puts 
Lavender  first  among  the  many  at  the  end  of 
his  "  Garden  of  Pleasant  Flowers  "  :  "  After  all 
these  faire  and  sweete  flowers,  I  must  needes  adde 
a  few  sweete  herbes,  both  to  accomplish  this 
Garden,  and  to  please  your  senses,  by  placing 
them  in  your  nosegays,  or  elsewhere,  as  you  list. 
And  although  I  bring  them  in  the  end  or  last 
place,  yet  are  they  not  of  the  least  account." 
He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  pretty  blue  "  Lavender 
is  little  used  in  inward  physicke,  but  outwardly  ; 
the  oyle  for  cold  and  benummed  parts  and  is 
almost  wholly  spent  with  us  for  to  perfume  linnen, 
apparrell,  gloves,  leather,  etc.,  and  the  dryed 
flowers  to  comfort  and  dry  up  the  moisture  of 
a  cold  braine."  Perhaps  this  latter  is  the  origin 
of  Lavender  salts,  which  are  thought  so  good  for  a 
cold  in  its  first  stage. 

A  marvellous  number  of  herbs  are  to  be  found 
in  this  quaint  and  original  Garden,  and  round  an 
Armillary  Sphere,  which  forms  an  appropriate 
centre-piece,  Lavender  bushes  are  planted  in  circles, 
giving  a  most  delicious  scent.  Outside  these  cir- 
cular beds  of  Lavender  is  a  semicircular  bed  filled 
with  herbs,  their  names  quaintly  cut  beside  them 
in  the  terra-cotta  edging,  giving  in  an  unobtrusive 
manner  additional  interest  to  the  border.  Among 
the  herbs  are :  Bay,  Sweet  Basil,  Burnet,  Thyme, 


ASHRIDGE  95 

Rue,  Mint,  Sage,  Pennyroyal,  Tansy,  Rosemary, 
and  Fennel,  many  of  which  are  mentioned  in  the 
delightful  old  ballad  :— 

"Here's  fine  Rosemary,  Sage,  and  Thyme, 
Come  buy  my  Ground  Ivy. 
Here's  Featherfew,  Gillyflowers,  and  Rue,         4 
Come,  buy  my  Knotted  Marjoram,  ho ! 
Come,  buy  my  Mint,  my  fine  green  Mint. 
Here's  fine  Lavender  for  your  cloaths, 
Here's  Parseley  and  Winter  Savory, 
And  Heartsease,  which  all  do  choose, 
Here's  Balm  and  Hyssop  and  Cinquefoil, 
All  fine  herbs  it  is  well  known. 
Let  none  despise  the  merry,  merry  cries  of  famous 
London  Town. 

Here's  Penny-royal  and  Marygolds, 
Come,  buy  my  Nettle-tops. 
Here's  Water-cresses  and  Scurvy-grass, 
Come,  buy  my  Sage  of  virtue,  ho  ! 
Come,  buy  my  Wormwood  and  Mugworts. 
Here's  all  fine  herbs  of  every  sort, 
Here's  Southernwood  that's  very  good, 
Dandelion  and  House-leek. 
Here's  Dragon's  Tongue  and  Wood  Sorrel, 
With  Bears-foot  and  Horehound. 
Let  none  despise  the  merry,  merry  cries  of  famous 
London  Town." 

A  delicious  fragrance  lingers  in  a  Herb  Garden, 
one  which  seems  to  exist  nowhere  else  and  is  never 
enervating  or  sickly,  but  always  bracing — almost, 
in  fact,  health-giving.  In  these  days  of  gorgeous 


96          A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

blossoms  few  people  realise  the  subtle  charm  which 
lies  in  these  humbler  plants,  or  how  much  suffering 
they  have  soothed  with  faith  to  help  their  magic 
power. 

Ashridge  is  a  very  proper  place  for  a  "  Garden 
of  Simples,"  as  in  the  old  days  the  monks  spent 
much  of  their  time  cultivating  herbs,  and  were 
the  only  doctors  of  the  poor.  Many  a  pilgrim 
who  came  to  worship  at  the  shrine  of  the  Precious 
Blood  received  bodily  as  well  as  spiritual  healing. 

Strangely  few  care  to  possess  Herb  Gardens 
now,  being  either  careless  or  forgetful  of  their 
delicate  charms,  and  preferring  some  more  brilliant 
growth. 

There  is  in  the  Garden  at  Ashridge  a  large 
piece  of  ornamental  water,  made  one  severe  winter 
to  give  employment  to  a  number  of  men  out  of 
work.  This  pond  is  rectangular  in  shape,  enclosed 
on  three  sides  with  high  banks  and  with  a  trimly 
cut  Yew  hedge  running  round  it.  As  the  pond 
was  used  for  skating,  several  flights  of  stone  steps 
were  made  to  lead  down  to  the  water's  edge. 
Though  handsome  in  itself,  the  pond  is  of  no 
value  as  a  feature  of  the  Garden.  Water  as  a 
rule  is  a  great  additional  beauty  to  any  spot,  but 
here  it  has  been  sunk  so  much  below  the  level 
of  the  ground  that  no  rippling  reflection  can  be 
seen ;  indeed,  it  remains  hidden  from  view  unless 
it  is  looked  at  almost  from  the  bank. 


ASHRIDGE  97 

"  Grotto  and  Garden  for  Rock  Plants  "  is  marked 
on  Repton's  plan  for  the  Garden  at  Ashridge,  and 
this  still  remains,  though  it  is  most  likely  vastly 
improved  since  his  day.  The  usual  subterranean 
passage  leads  down  into  this  Grotto,  planted  every- 
where among  the  rocks  with  luxuriantly  growing 
ferns  of  every  sort  and  size,  making  an  exquisite 
green  bower,  the  very  place  for  thought  and  rest, 
as  Andrew  Marvel  says  : — 

"  Meanwhile  the  mind,  from  pleasure  less, 
Withdraws  into  its  happiness; — 
The  mind,  that  ocean  where  each  kind 
Does  straight  its  own  resemblance  find ; — 
Yet  it  creates,  transcending  these, 
Far  other  worlds,  and  other  seas, 
Annihilating  all  that's  made 
To  a  green  thought  in  a  green  shade." 

The  wide  Garden  Terrace  in  front  of  the  house 
is  gravelled,  and  the  Box-edged  Borders  are  filled 
with  such  pleasant  flowers  as  Snapdragon,  Mig- 
nonette, Geraniums  of  all  kinds,  and  Calceolarias. 
At  intervals  between  these  borders  are  little  square- 
clipped  Yews  and  Boxes  containing  very  old  scented 
Lemon  Verbena,  the  stems  of  which  are  nearly 
twelve  inches  round,  gnarled  and  twisted  with  age. 

On  the  Lawn  just  below  the  terrace  beautiful  blue 
Agapanthus  are  planted  in  tubs,  adding  greatly 
to  the  general  effect.  Straight  from  this  Terrace 


98         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

stretch  vast  Lawns  planted  with  splendid  trees  ; 
and  avenues  of  Ilexes  and  other  deciduous  trees 
fade  far  away  into  the  blue  distance.  This  is  the 
Ashridge  of  to-day,  with  its  vast  house  and 
magnificent  grounds,  so  different  in  its  modern 
splendour  from  the  Ashridge  of  Elizabeth  and  the 
old  monks.  Yet  with  all  its  modernness,  for  those 
who  know  its  history,  there  is  still  the  romantic 
glamour  of  its  past.  Items  of  interest  about  the 
beautiful  old  place  may  be  gathered  by  the  score  in 
turning  over  old  records. 

Precisely  how  early  Ashridge  existed  is  hardly 
known.  Some  claim  that  it  was  one  of  the  King's 
palaces  before  it  became  a  monastery.  The  name 
was  formerly  written  Ascherugge,  and  is  derived 
from  "a  hill  set  with  Ash  trees"  the  first  part  of 
the  word  meaning  Ashentree,  and  rugge  standing 
for  steep  place — afterwards  written  ridge. 

Ashridge  is  in  the  parish  of  Pitstone,  and  lies  in 
two  counties,  the  present  house  being  in  Bucking- 
hamshire, and  the  stables  in  Hertfordshire.  The 
monastery  was  founded  in  1283  by  Edmund,  the 
son  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  and  King  of  the 
Romans  (the  younger  brother  of  Henry  II.)  and 
Senchia,  daughter  of  the  Earl  and  Countess  of 
Provence.  Richard  endowed  his  wife  on  his 
wedding-day  with  the  third  of  his  vast  possessions ; 
and,  according  to  Matthew  Paris,  the  old  monkish 
chronicler,  the  wedding  was  kept  with  the  greatest 


ASHRIDGE  99 

pomp  and  feasting,  over  30,000  dishes  being 
provided. 

This  monastery  or  college  of  the  Bonhommes 
(founded  by  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall)  consisted 
of  a  rectory  and  twenty  brethren  (thirteen  to  be 
priests).  Their  rule  was  that  of  S.  Austen,  and 
they  wore  the  "amice  "  grey  habits  as  required  by 
their  statutes.  This  was  the  first  settlement  of  their 
order  in  England,  and  there  were  never  more  than 
two  or  three  of  their  houses  in  this  country,  as  their 
influence  was  not  wide. 

The  Bonhommes  were  brought  from  the  South 
of  France  by  the  Earl  of  Cornwall — many  writers 
think  they  held  beliefs  similar  to  those  of  the 
Albigenses,  who  were  a  plain,  uncorrupt  people  who 
strove  to  attain  a  more  perfect  holiness  and  a  purer 
faith  than  what  they  thought  were  professed  by  the 
Romish  clergy.  "  There  were  likewise,"  says 
Newcome,  "  in  the  South  of  France  sects  of 
Religious  who  put  themselves  under  monastic  rules 
and  were  incorporated  by  the  Pope  and  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  the  Bons  Hommes.  The 
charter  of  the  foundation  of  Ashridge  was  confirmed 
by  Edward  I.  at  Langley,  in  Hertfordshire.  By  it 
the  founder  "gave  to  God  and  the  Blessed  Mary 
and  the  Rector  and  Brethren  of  the  College  his 
manor  of  Ashridge  and  Pichelstorne  and  his  manor 
of  Little  Gaddesden  and  Hemel  Hempstead  and 
other  possessions  with  numerous  rites  and  privileges." 


100         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  college  at  Ashridge  was  founded  primarily  in 
honour  of  the  Precious  Blood  of  the  Saviour. 

Hollinshed  says  :  "  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall, 
saw  among  the  relics  and  other  precious  ornaments 
of  the  ancient  Emperors  a  box  of  gold  said  to  con- 
tain a  portion  of  the  Blood  of  Christ."  He  obtained 
the  box  and  bestowed  "  a  portion  on  Hailes  in 
Gloucestershire,"  and  "  he  founded  an  Abbie  a  little 
from  his  manor  of  Bircamsted,  which  Abbie  was 
named  Ashrug." 

This  great  treasure  and  relic  proved  a  mine  of 
wealth  to  the  college,  bringing  hundreds  of  pilgrims 
who  seldom  came  empty-handed. 

The  same  relic  had  already  procured  for  Hailes 
the  distinction  of  creating  a  national  oath — such 
is  the  irony  of  life !  The  oath  is  mentioned  by 
Chaucer  in  "  The  Pardoneres  Tale  "  thus  : — 

"  That  vengeance  shal  not  parten  from  his  hous, 
That  of  his  othes  is  outrageous. 
By  Goddes  precious  herte,  and  by  his  nailes, 
And  by  the  Blood  of  Crist,  that  is  in  Hailes." 

The  devout  founder  of  the  old  college  died  there 
in  1300  :  for  his  generous  and  magnificent  gifts  he 
was  given  the  title  of  "  Summus  Religiosorum 
Patronus  "  and  the  brethren  joined  his  name  to  that 
of  his  father  in  their  prayers.  His  heart  was 
interred  at  Ashridge  in  a  gold  casket,  already 
holding  that  of  his  friend  and  father-confessor, 


ASHRIDGE  101 

S.  Thomas  de  Cantelupe  (the  last  Englishman 
canonised).  The  treasures  at  Ashridge,  as  well  as 
the  beauty  of  the  place,  attracted  many  benefactors, 
among  them  the  Black  Prince,  who  was  so  lavish 
with  his  gifts  as  often  to  be  mistaken  in  later  years 
for  the  original  founder,  instead  of  the  second,  as  he 
is  always  called.  Henry,  Cardinal  Beaufort,  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  assisted  the  monastery  when  it  was 
in  dire  straits  and  rebuilt  the  choir  with  his  own 
money.  The  quiet,  peaceful  reign  of  the  monks, 
or  Bonhommes,  amid  their  lovely  surroundings 
came  to  an  end  in  the  time  of  Thomas  Waterhouse, 
who  was  the  last  of  the  fifteen  rectors.  Waterhouse 
was  a  scholarly  man  of  good  family,  and  lived  for 
many  years  after  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries. 
Henry  VIII.  styled  him  "his  Gentleman  Priest." 
Was  it,  perhaps,  his  non-resistance  which  gained 
him  this  title  from  the  impetuous  Henry  ? 

In  1534  Waterhouse  acknowledged  Henry's 
supremacy,  and  surrendered  his  house  to  the  King, 
during  whose  reign  the  college  and  its  lands 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Crown,  the 
revenue  being  at  this  time,  according  to  Dugdale, 
£416  143.  4d. 

About  this  date  the  fraud  of  "the  Precious 
Blood  "  was  discovered,  "  when  the  sunshine  of  the 
gospel  had  pierced  through  such  clouds  of  darkness 
and  men's  eyes  were  opened  to  the  fact  that  the 
worshipped  and  reverenced  relic  was  nothing  but 


102        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

clarified  honey,  coloured  with  saffron."  This  dis- 
covery was  proclaimed  at  S.  Paul's  Cross  by  the 
Bishop  of  Rochester  on  February  24,  1538. 

Edward  VI.,  ever  a  generous  and  admiring 
brother  of  his  learned  sister  Elizabeth,  granted  her 
the  numerous  "  manors  and  lands,  among  them  the 
parcel  of  the  lands  and  possession  of  the  late  college 
of  Ashridge,  with  all  its  edifices,  curtilages,  orchards, 
Gardens."  A  goodly  gift! 

A  very  fair  idea  of  these  Gardens  can  be  gained 
from  old  monastic  records.  They  were  chiefly 
planted  with  what  would  be  suitable  for  domestic 
use,  the  cultivation  of  a  flower  Garden  for  its  actual 
beauty  having  hardly  yet  come  into  existence, 
especially  within  the  precincts  of  a  monastery. 

Edward  VI.  is  supposed  to  have  planted  the 
Western  Avenue,  still  called  "  Prince's  Riding," 
but  from  its  appearance  and  age  it  is  much  more 
likely  to  have  been  planted  in  Charles  II.'s  reign, 
when  such  Avenues  were  popular. 

In  1552  the  Princess  Elizabeth  grew  weary  of 
the  Court  of  her  sister,  Queen  Mary,  filled  as  it 
was  with  intrigue,  and  where  one  day  she  was  the 
Queen's  dearest  sister  and  the  next  within  an  ace 
of  prison  and  perhaps  death.  At  last,  after  frequent 
delays — Mary  never  knowing  her  own  mind — 
Elizabeth  gained  permission  to  leave  for  the 
country. 

Sir  Thomas  Pope,  her  friend  and  the  kindest  of 


ASHRIDGE  103 

jailors,  wrote  of  Elizabeth  that  "her  amiable  qualifi- 
cations every  day  drew  the  attention  of  the  young 
nobility  and  rendered  her  universally  popular ;  the 
malevolence  of  the  vindictive  Queen  still  increased. 
The  Princess  therefore  thought  it  most  prudent  to 
leave  Court,  and  before  the  beginning  of  1554 
retired  to  her  house  at  Ashridge  in  Hertford- 
shire." This  retirement  did  not  give  Elizabeth 
the  peace  she  desired ;  her  footsteps,  and  even 
those  of  her  servants,  were  constantly  dogged  by 
spies.  The  life  of  sport  and  country  pleasure  which 
she  loved  was  denied  her,  as  well  as  her  studies 
with  Ascham.  New  matrimonial  schemes  were 
suggested  to  her  day  by  day,  only  to  be  warded 
off  with  some  vain  excuse  in  the  marvellously 
evasive  manner  so  early  adopted  by  Elizabeth  in 
any  difficulty. 

The  idea  of  Mary's  Spanish  marriage  had  excited 
great  indignation  amongst  the  English  people,  who 
saw  the  dawn  of  Roman  Catholic  power  already 
creeping  over  the  land,  especially  as  the  Act  which 
had  declared  the  Queen  legitimate  had  not  done  the 
same  by  Protestant  Elizabeth,  whom  Mary  refused 
to  acknowledge  as  her  heir.  This  and  many  other 
signs  of  the  times  roused  the  nation  to  the  point 
of  rebellion,  and  in  different  parts  of  England 
simultaneous  risings  were  planned.  That  in  Kent 
was  headed  by  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt.  The  plan  was 
to  put  Elizabeth  upon  the  throne,  after  marrying 


104         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

her  to  Lord  Courtney,  a  vain,  foolish  youth,  whom, 
gossip  says,  the  Queen  herself  at  one  time  wished 
to  marry.  He,  however,  preferred  Elizabeth  as 
being  better-looking  and  nineteen  years  younger. 
Gardiner,  through  this  popinjay,  soon  discovered 
the  whole  plot,  thereby  forcing  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt 
to  take  up  arms  sooner  than  he  had  intended,  thus 
marring  many  of  his  plans. 

Soon  a  serious  insurrection  broke  out  which 
might  have  ended  very  differently  but  for  the 
courage  of  the  Queen,  whose  Tudor  blood  rose  to 
the  occasion.  Addressing  the  people  from  the 
Guildhall  in  a  stirring  speech,  she  enrolled  thousands 
on  her  side.  Wyatt's  fate  was  sealed !  Fighting 
bravely  against  desperate  odds,  deserted  and  ex- 
hausted, he  fell  into  his  enemies'  hands  at  Temple 
Bar. 

Everything  pointed  to  Elizabeth  being  mixed  up 
in  this  fatal  plot,  and  the  Queen  sent  her  a  Royal 
summons  to  appear  immediately  at  Court,  where 
she  would  receive  "a  hearty  welcome."  The  invita- 
tion was  mistrusted,  and  Elizabeth,  feigning  sick- 
ness, retired  to  bed,  sending  a  message  to  the 
Queen  that  she  was  too  ill  to  travel,  but  that  as 
soon  as  she  was  able  she  would  come,  and  prayed 
her  Majesty's  forbearance  "for  a  few  days." 

Norden,  in  his  description  of  Hertfordshire, 
written  in  1596,  appears  to  think  Elizabeth's 
sickness  real.  He  describes  Ashridge  "as  a 


ASHRIDGE  105 

Hermitage,"  and  goes  on  to  say  :  "  Wherin  also 
our  most  worth  and  ever  famous  Queene  Elizabeth 
lodged  as  in  her  owne  (beinge  then  a  more  stately 
house)  at  the  time  of  Wyatt's  attempt  in  Queen 
Marys  days.  And  from  this  place  she  was  in  all 
post  sent  for  by  the  Courte,  by  such  severe  Com- 
missioners, that  though  she  were  sick,  she  was 
forced  to  take  her  journey  with  them."  Elizabeth's 
excuses  were  accepted  by  the  Queen  for  some  days, 
but  then,  as  Elizabeth  had  been  denounced  by 
Wyatt  and  others  under  horrible  torture,  Mary 
sent  her  own  doctors  to  ascertain  if  Elizabeth 
could  stand  the  journey.  "  Lord  William  Howard, 
Sir  Edward  Hasting,  and  Sir  Thomas  Cornwallis, 
attended  by  a  troop  of  horse,  were  ordered  to  bring 
her  to  Court.  They  found  the  Princess  sick  and 
even  confined  to  bed  at  Ashridge." 

Bodily  and  mental  weakness  were  conquered  by 
Elizabeth's  courage,  and  on  the  approach  to 
London — ever  wise,  even  in  such  small  but  telling 
details  as  dress — she  appeared  robed  entirely  in 
white  as  an  outward  sign  of  her  innocence.  And 
she  also  ordered  the  cover  of  the  Queen's  litter  (in 
which  she  was  travelling)  to  be  opened,  so  that  the 
frankness  of  her  countenance  might  be  seen  by  the 
people. 

There  is  little  doubt,  according  to  the  annals 
of  that  time,  that  Elizabeth  narrowly  escaped  death. 
Every  powerful  Catholic  was  eager,  on  some 


106         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

pretext  or  another,  to  accuse  her  of  treason, 
her  existence  being  a  perpetual  menace  to  the 
supremacy  of  their  religion  in  England.  Elizabeth's 
behaviour,  and  the  ties  of  relationship  between  her 
and  the  Queen,  undoubtedly  saved  her  life  at  this 
critical  time.  After  a  trying  and  anxious  time  of 
imprisonment  in  the  Tower,  Elizabeth  was  removed 
to  Woodstock — a  State  prisoner,  guarded  by  soldiers 
night  and  day. 

Elizabeth  never  again  stayed  at  Ashridge,  the 
remembrance  of  the  unhappy  days  she  had  spent 
there  perhaps  rendering  the  place  distasteful  to 
her,  but  she  left  behind  her  the  proverbial  shoes 
— in  this  instance  "two  sumptuous"  pairs — that 
future  generations  should  recognise  the  tiny 
dimensions  of  her  Royal  foot. 

On  Elizabeth's  succession  to  the  throne,  the 
lands  of  Ashridge  continually  changed  hands. 
The  Queen  first  granted  the  house  and  part 
of  the  estate  to  William  George,  one  of  her 
gentlemen  pensioners,  the  papers  recording  this 
gift  being  still  in  existence. 

In  the  seventeenth  year  of  her  reign  she  gave 
the  whole  estate  with  the  house  to  John  Dudley 
and  John  Ayscough,  who  sold  it  within  fourteen 
days  to  Lord  Cheyne,  who,  according  to  Norden, 
kept  it,  for  he  writes,  "  This  place  (Ashridge)  is 
lately  beautified  by  the  Lord  Cheyne." 

Randolph    Crewe     bought    Ashridge     in     1602 


ASHRIDGE  107 

from  Lady  Cheyne,  keeping  it  for  two  years, 
when  it  was  bought  by  Sir  Thomas  Egerton,  who 
with  great  trouble  managed  to  get  back  the 
lands  which  had  passed  away  from  the  old 
college  estate. 

The  college  of  the  Bonhommes  at  Ashridge  was 
originally  a  good  specimen  of  thirteenth-century 
work,  but  in  Elizabeth's  reign  it  fell  into  great 
disrepair.  It  was,  however,  put  in  perfect  order 
by  Sir  Thomas  Egerton,  who  also  made  extensive 
alterations.  From  a  view  of  the  house  published 
in  1768,  it  appears  that  it  was  entirely  enclosed 
within  a  court,  the  entrance  being  through  a  hand- 
some porch,  which  formed  the  porter's  lodge. 

The  chief  feature  of  the  old  building  was  the 
hall,  which  had  high  Gothic  windows  and  wings 
at  each  end  with  huge  bay  windows.  The  two 
smaller  wings  are  thought  to  have  been  added 
during  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and  James  I. 
The  cloisters  remained  intact  till  1800,  when  Lord 
Bridge  water  pulled  the  whole  of  the  old  house 
down ;  the  cloisters  being  so  damaged  by  the 
destruction  of  the  house  that  they  too  were  destroyed. 
Brown  Willis  says  that  at  this  date  the  painting  on 
the  cloisters  was  still  clearly  to  be  seen,  especially 
the  fresco  of  the  Crucifixion.  To  this  old  house 
belonged  an  old  Garden,  entirely  surrounded  by 
walls,  and  described  by  a  youthful  poetess  some 
years  later  as  "a  perfect  Eden"  of  delight. 


108        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Sir  Thomas  Egerton  was  no  ordinary  man.  His 
name  figures  in  the  history  of  his  day — Lord 
Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
afterwards  Baron  Ellesmere  and  Lord  Chancellor 
to  King  James,  and  finally,  in  1616,  Viscount 
Brackley.  Lord  Ellesmere  when  an  old  man 
married  for  his  third  wife  the  celebrated  Dowager 
Countess  of  Derby  (the  cousin  to  whom  Spenser 
dedicated  "  The  Teares  of  the  Muses "),  whose 
daughter  had  married  Lord  Ellesmere's  son  John, 
afterwards  Earl  of  Bridgewater.  There  are  many 
amusing  old  documents  concerning  the  Egerton 
family,  alluding  to  different  festivities — such  as 
the  "Christening"  of  "Mrs.  Magdalen  Egerton, 
1615,"  and  then  follows  an  amazing  list  of  require- 
ments for  the  feast,  among  which  are  a  list  of 
"  comforts,"  such  as  Collyanders,  Anneseeds, 
Roses,  Violets,  Muske,  Orringe,  Rosemary — all 
interesting  from  a  Garden  point  of  view. 

Milton's  Masque  of  "  Comus  "  owes  its  origin  to 
John,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Bridgewater,  and 
his  sister,  Lady  Alice  Egerton,  who  once  lost  their 
way  in  a  dense  forest  called  Haywood,  near  Ludlow, 
and  were  benighted,  which  incident  forms  the 
subject  of  the  Masque,  with  fantastic  additions. 

"  Comus "  was  presented  at  Ludlow  Castle  in 
1634  on  the  occasion  of  Lord  Bridgewater's 
installation  as  Lord  President  of  Wales  and  the 
Marches,  when  great  feasts  and  entertainments 


ASHRIDGE  109 

took  place,  carried  out  with  every  possible  magnifi- 
cence. The  parts  were  actually  played  by  the 
three  children  of  the  President,  Lord  Brackley, 
Lady  Alice,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Egerton,  whose 
adventure  had  first  suggested  the  idea  of  the 
Masque. 

Ashridge  fared  badly  at  the  hands  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary soldiers  during  the  Civil  War ;  for  Lord 
Bridgewater  complained  to  Cromwell  "  that  Captain 
Washington  and  Captain  Kemsey  with  their 
soldiers  entered  into  his  park  and  house  at 
Ashridge,  detained  his  servants  prisoners,  beat 
down  the  ceilings,  broke  open  and  hewed  down  the 
doors  of  the  house,  notwithstanding  they  had  been 
set  open  to  them,  searched  his  evidence-rooms, 
studies  and  closets,  took  away  plate  and  arms 
besides  what  household  stuff  he  knew  not  of." 

If  this  kind  of  damage  had  continued,  the  lovely 
old  house  would  have  become  uninhabitable,  but 
Lord  Bridgewater  evidently  "  purchased  the 
possession "  of  his  home  and  was  left  in  peace, 
though  Cromwell  removed  him  from  his  appoint- 
ments, and  existing  letters  show  that  his  loyalty  to 
the  King  across  the  water  placed  him  in  great 
danger  of  imprisonment. 

When  Charles  came  by  his  own  again,  he  did 
not  forget  the  owner  of  Ashridge,  and  wrote 
letters  to  him  about  the  preservation  of  game. 
The  game  laws  in  those  days  were  terribly  severe, 


110        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

the  penalties  of  poaching  being  horrible  mutilations 
and  even  death.  The  liberty  enjoyed  in  England 
to-day  is  often  forgotten,  and  only  on  reviewing  the 
past  conditions  does  the  advance  of  justice  show  in 
its  true  light. 

A  very  pretty  story  is  attached  to  the  broad, 
sweeping  Avenue  of  trees  which  runs  from  the  fields 
beyond  the  village  to  the  very  windows  of  the 
house. 

Lady  Bridgewater's  widowed  mother  lived  in  the 
village,  from  which  the  great  house  seemed  miles 
away.  Her  only  daughter  found  no  glimpse  could 
be  seen  of  her  old  home  among  the  fields.  But 
love  found  out  a  way  !  A  wide  Avenue,  straight  as 
a  die,  was  cut  from  one  house  to  the  other,  and 
signals  and  signs  could  then  pass  between  the  two 
loving  hearts,  though  it  is  sad  to  think  so  many 
hundreds  of  beautiful  trees  were  ruthlessly  cut 
down — for  the  sake  of  a  woman's  whim. 

The  first  Duke  of  Bridgewater  married  Elizabeth, 
the  third  daughter  of  the  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough,  and  the  acknowledged  toast  of  the  day. 
Pope  admired  the  lady,  as  well  as  Jervas,  the 
Court  painter,  and  alluded  to  her  in  an  "  Epistle 
to  Mr.  Jervas  "  : 

"Thence  Beauty,  waking  all  her  forms,  supplies 
An  Angel's  sweetness,  or  Bridgewater's  eyes. 

With  Zeuxis'  Helen  they  Bridgewater  vie." 


ASHRIDGE  111 

Alas  !  the  angel  died  very  young,  and  among  the 
virtues  and  accomplishments  mentioned  on  her 
tomb,  it  is  recorded  "  that  she  could  speak  not 
only  English  but  French  "  ! 

The  Duke  soon  filled  her  place  by  a  very  different 
lady,  and  his  second  Duchess  outlived  her  husband, 
making  later  a  marriage  which  was  a  nine  days' 
wonder.  "We  have  been  entertained,"  writes 
Walpole,  "with  the  marriage  of  the  Duchess  of 
Bridge  water  and  Dick  Lyttelton — she  forty,  plain, 
very  rich,  and  with  five  children,  he  six-and-twenty, 
handsome,  poor,  and  proper  to  get  her  five  more." 
This  strange  marriage  appears  to  have  proved  very 
happy,  possibly  owing  to  the  lady's  riches  and  the 
husband's  good-nature.  In  1764,  when  she  was  a 
gouty  old  woman  of  sixty,  he  allowed  himself  to  be 
wheeled  everywhere  "  in  a  gouty  chair,"  as  she  was, 
to  prevent  remarks  upon  the  disparity  of  their 
ages.  Certainly  such  sympathy  and  tact  must  have 
gone  far  in  the  making  of  a  happy  marriage. 

This  charming  man  was  stepfather  to  the 
beautiful  Di  Egerton,  who  "had  her  caprices"  as 
to  whom  she  would  and  would  not  marry.  In  the 
end  her  choice  was  not  a  wise  one,  and  it  would 
perhaps  have  been  better  if  she  had  married 
Mr.  Seymour,  though  he  had  declared  her  letters 
were  too  affectionate  and  was  "  so  unsentimental 
as  to  talk  of  desiring  to  make  her  happy,  instead 
of  being  made  so  by  her !  " 


112        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  celebrated  maker  of  the  Bridgewater  Canal 
was  the  third  and  last  Duke.  He  was  always  called 
"  the  Father  of  Inland  Navigation,"  having  started 
the  huge  enterprise  of  canal-making  in  England, 
and  seeing  no  use  in  rivers  unless  they  fed 
navigable  canals. 

Being  decidedly  eccentric,  he  took  a  great  dislike 
to  both  flowers  and  women.  The  latter  aversion 
may  be  traceable  to  his  rejection  by  Elizabeth 
Gunning  in  favour  of  another  Duke ;  for  her  sake 
he  remained  a  bachelor  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

The  beautiful  Miss  Gunnings  had  a  romantic 
history.  Daughters  of  a  Mr.  Gunning,  of  Castle 
Coote,  in  Ireland,  they  were  so  desperately  poor 
that  they  had  thoughts  of  going  on  the  stage, 
instead  of  which  Maria  married  Lord  Coventry 
and  Elizabeth  was  twice  a  Duchess  and  the  mother 
of  four  Dukes!  "You  don't  exchange  prisoners," 
wrote  Walpole  to  his  friend  Con  way,  Field- Marshal 
and  Statesman,  "  with  half  so  much  alacrity  as 
Jack  Campbell  (afterwards  Duke  of  Argyle)  and 
the  Duchess  of  Hamilton  have  exchanged  hearts. 
I  had  so  little  observed  the  negotiations,  or  sus- 
pected any,  that  when  your  brother  told  me  of  it 
yesterday  morning,  I  would  not  believe  a  tittle — I 
beg  Mr.  Pitt's  pardon,  not  an  iota.  It  is  the 
prettiest  match  in  the  world  since  yours,  and  every- 
body likes  it  but  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater  and 
Lord  Coventry.  What  an  extraordinary  fate  is 


ASHRIDGE  113 

attached  to  those  two  women  !  Who  would  have 
believed  that  a  Gunning  would  unite  the  two  great 
houses  of  Campbell  and  Hamilton  ?  For  my  part, 
I  expect  to  see  my  Lady  Coventry  Queen  of 
Prussia.  I  would  not  venture  to  marry  either  of 
them  these  thirty  years,  for  fear  of  being  shuffled 
out  of  the  world  prematurely  to  make  room  for 
the  rest  of  their  adventures."  A  strange  history, 
indeed,  for  the  girls  who  were  so  poor  that  they 
borrowed  clothes  from  Peg  Woffington  to  go  to 
the  Dublin  Drawing-room ! 

As  can  be  imagined,  whatever  the  last  Duke  of 
Bridgewater  did  for  canals,  he  was  not  so  successful 
with  Gardens ;  and  his  cousin  and  heir,  John 
Egerton,  must  have  found  the  Gardens  at  Ashridge 
in  a  sorry  plight,  and  certainly  destitute  of  flowers. 
It  was  this  cousin,  the  seventh  Earl  (the  Dukedom 
had  become  extinct),  who  built  the  present  magnifi- 
cent house,  in  size  as  large  as  half  a  dozen  German 
or  Italian  palaces.  This  house  was  designed  by 
James  Wyatt  in  1808,  and  finished  by  Jeffrey  and 
Digby  Wyatt  successively,  thus  being  the  work  of 
three  generations  of  famous  architects. 

Practically  nothing  remained  of  the  old  house, 
the  last  Duke  having  had  the  greater  part  of  it 
pulled  down,  meaning  to  build  a  new  one.  When 
his  cousin  came  into  the  property  hardly  a  room 
had  a  roof,  only  the  lodges  remained  standing. 
The  Duke  had  lived  for  years  in  the  porter's  lodge, 


114        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

collecting  material  for  the  new  house  which  stands 
on  the  site  of  the  old  monastery. 

This  immense  building  has  a  frontage  of  a 
thousand  feet  and  possesses  every  excess  of  the 
modern  florid  Gothic  style,  abounding  in  towers, 
turrets,  and  battlements.  The  chapel  which  lies 
by  the  side  of  the  house  is  considered  to  be  Wyatt's 
masterpiece.  The  last  Earl  of  Bridgewater  was 
as  eccentric  as  the  last  Duke  ;  he  is  but  remembered 
as  the  originator  of  the  famous  "  Bridgewater 
Treatises,"  he  having  left  in  his  will  ^"8,000  to  be 
paid  to  the  author  of  the  best  treatise  on  the 
Power,  Wisdom,  and  Goodness  of  God  as  manifested 
in  the  Creation.  The  sum  was  divided  into  eight, 
and  among  those  who  received  a  part  of  it  were 
Dr.  Chalmers,  Sir  Charles  Bell,  and  Whewell. 

In  the  lovely  old  Hotel  Egerton  in  the  Rue  Saint 
Honor6,  Lord  Bridgewater  spent  many  years  in 
absolute  seclusion.  A  little  crowd  of  dogs  and 
cats  dressed  up  as  men  and  women  shared  his 
meals,  sat  at  his  table,  daily  drove  out  in  his  car- 
riage, and  imitated  all  his  doings.  Perhaps  he  had 
early  in  life  learnt  that  the  heart  of  a  dog  is  more 
faithful  than  that  of  most  human  beings. 

This  eccentric  old  gentleman  died  surrounded  by 
his  dumb  friends,  leaving  a  most  extraordinary  will, 
bequeathing  everything  to  Viscount  Alford,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Brownlow,  but  stipulating 
that  if  Lord  Alford  or  his  successor  did  not  in  a 


ASHRIDGE  115 

given  time  become  either  a  Duke  or  a  Marquis,  the 
estate  should  be  relinquished.  This  condition 
nearly  ruined  the  property,  but  finally,  after  many 
suits  in  Chancery,  "the  House  of  Lords  granted  the 
property  to  Lord  Alford's  son  " — although  he  was 
neither  a  Duke  nor  a  Marquis. 

Ashridge,  possessed  of  six  and  a  half  centuries 
of  historical  interest,  has  remained  in  that  family 
ever  since. 

The  words  of  the  satirical  old  Laureate  are  indeed 
still  appropriate  to  Ashridge,  with  its  Avenues, 
Park,  and  mass  of  Gardens  : 

"A  pleasanter  place  than  Ashridge  is  harde  were  to  fynde." 

But  the  old  man,  who  died  about  1529,  would 
perhaps  not  recognise  "  the  goodly  place  "  in  these 
days ! 


BECKETT,    BERKSHIRE 


"But  now  let  us  conjecture  that  so  presentient  Auscultator 
has  handed  in  his  Relatio  ex  Actis ;  been  invited  to  a  glass  of 
Rhine-wine ;  and  so,  instead  of  returning  dispirited  and  athirst  to 
his  dusty  Town-home,  is  ushered  into  the  Garden-house,  where 
sit  the  choicest  party  of  dames  and  cavaliers :  if  not  engaged 
in  ^Esthetic  Tea,  yet  in  trustful  evening  conversation,  and 
perhaps  Musical  Coffee,  for  we  hear  of  "  harps  and  pure  voices 
making  the  stillness  live."  Scarcely,  it  would  seem,  is  the 
Garden-house  inferior  in  respectability  to  the  noble  mansion 
itself." — Sartor  Resartus. 

T.  CARLYLE 


VI 

BECKETT,    BERKSHIRE 

A  WAY  down  near  Faringdon,  in  Berkshire,  is 
•**•  to  be  found  one  of  the  greatest  treasures  in 
the  way  of  Garden  Architecture — no  other  than 
the  first  reputed  Garden-building  in  England  ; 
built  and  designed  by  Inigo  Jones,  the  magnificent 
designer  of  later  Renaissance  Art  on  the  lines  of 
Palladio. 

This  Garden  House  has  been  called  by  various 
names  :  "  Banqueting  Room,"  "  Summer  House," 
"Fishing  Lodge,"  "Tea  House,"  or  "China 
House."  It  overhangs  an  artificial  piece  of  water, 
close  to  the  house  at  Beckett,  belonging  to  Viscount 
Barrington.  A  quaint,  fantastic  building,  said  to 
be  the  forerunner  of  all  the  numerous  Temples, 
Banqueting-houses,  and  Casinos,  built  to  suit  the 
fashion  which  sprang  up  during  the  Stuart  period 
for  such  Garden-houses.  Like  most  fashions,  in  the 
end  it  became  an  extravagance,  but  the  first  of 


120        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

these  houses  was  both  effective  and  useful.  The 
celebrated  one  at  Beckett  is  supposed,  without 
doubt,  to  bear  upon  it  the  seal  of  its  master — the 
princely  Inigo  Jones. 

It  distinctly  shows  the  influence  which  Chinese 
architecture  and  art  exercised  in  Europe  in  those 
days.  The  little  Chinese  figures  and  houses  which 
crept  into  England  on  the  beautiful  Oriental 
porcelain  were  the  originals  of  many  designs  of 
a  light  and  graceful  nature.  And  on  such  lines 
a  number  of  these  Garden-houses  were  carried 
out. 

Originally  the  Garden  House  at  Beckett  stood  at 
the  edge  of  a  small  stream,  long  since  turned  into  a 
fair-sized  lake,  the  alteration  being  due  to  the  6th 
Viscount  Barrington,  and  the  effect  now  is  certainly 
pleasing — which  cannot,  unfortunately,  be  said  for 
many  such  changes. 

The  Garden  House  is  placed  on  what  might  be 
called  a  wide  platform  projecting  into  the  lake. 
From  the  house  it  is  approached  by  a  long 
Terrace-walk  of  grass,  bordered  on  each  side 
with  gay  flowers,  behind  which  runs  a  railing 
covered  with  trailing  Roses.  Below,  against  the 
Terrace  wall,  there  is  a  beautiful  border  of 
Magnolias,  Figs,  Fuchsias,  and  Clematis,  making 
a  bright  spot  of  colour  among  the  surrounding 
green. 

By  going  down  the  Terrace  steps,  another  path 


THE    GARDEN    HOUSE,   BECKETT 


BECKETT  121 

can  be  taken  leading  to  the  lower  room  of  the 
Garden  House,  which  is  on  the  level  of  the  water. 
Built  of  a  beautiful  yellow-coloured  stone,  the 
house  is  constructed  with  four  high  doors  and 
eight  large  windows.  Round  three  sides  runs  a 
wide  balcony,  the  Terrace  Walk  approaching  it  on 
the  fourth  side. 

The  most  marked  feature  of  the  whole  structure 
is  the  heavy  pointed  roof  of  green  slate  (with  a  white 
pinnacle  in  the  centre),  built  with  tremendously 
overhanging  eaves,  quite  seven  feet  wide.  It  is 
this  roof  with  its  projecting  eaves  which  gives  the 
decidedly  Chinese  appearance  to  the  Garden 
House,  sometimes  called  in  consequence  "  the 
China  House." 

This  little  building  of  yellow  stone  and  green 
slates,  and  the  bright  flowers  surrounding  it,  all 
harmonise  perfectly  with  the  beautiful  white  and 
yellow  Water  Lilies  floating  on  the  water  under  the 
little  white  cradle  bridge  which  is  thrown  across  the 
lake,  the  whole  effect  giving  to  this  part  of  the 
Garden  a  feeling  of  being  for  ever  enf£te,  so  unlike 
the  character  of  the  Garden  elsewhere,  with  its  sombre 
green  walks  and  high  Yew  hedges.  Many  a  gossip 
over  a  dainty  tea-table — when  first  that  woman's 
luxury  came  into  fashion  in  Queen  Anne's  day — 
must  have  taken  place  here ;  and  if  the  walls  of  the 
beautifully  proportioned  little  building  could  speak, 
they  would  be  to  tell  of  old-world  tea  parties,  and 


122        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

the  fair  ladies  who  talked  over  the  latest  scandal 
while  drinking  scented  tea  out  of  tiny  Chinese 
cups. 

The  high  road  from  London  to  Bath  ran  past 
Beckett,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  Garden  House 
was  built  to  enable  the  ladies  of  that  day  to  watch 
the  coaches  as  they  passed  by.  They  must  in  this 
way  have  often  caught  sight  of  friends,  and  possibly 
have  brought  them  in  to  hear  their  news  and  have 
a  few  hours'  rest.  Quite  a  romantic  little  picture 
could  be  painted  of  this  fascinating  House  and  its 
fair  inmates.  Such  a  building  as  this  Garden 
House  at  Beckett  must  add  greatly  to  the  effect 
of  any  Garden,  and  give  constant  pleasure  by  its 
originality  of  design,  while  its  position  and  whole 
treatment  is  quite  perfect.  Long  ago  great  artists 
thought  nothing  too  small  to  do  well,  and  they 
possessed  the  rare  power,  so  seldom  found  in  these 
days,  of  being  able  to  design  churches  and  palaces 
full  of  grave  grace  and  dignity,  as  well  as  to  erect 
fantastic  little  buildings  like  the  Garden  House  at 
Beckett.  They  also  had  that  nicety  of  judgment 
which  enabled  them  to  know  where  to  place  their 
buildings ;  for  instance,  here,  the  little  Garden 
House  stands  just  where  it  is  wanted,  and  where 
it  looks  well  from  every  point  of  view.  It  is  not, 
however,  surprising  to  find  this  exact  knowledge 
with  regard  to  its  design  and  position  when  the 
name  of  the  architect  is  remembered.  Inigo  Jones 


BECKETT  123 

is  one  of  the  many  men  whose  name  is  associated 
with  great  work,  but  of  whose  life  there  is  little 
authentically  known. 

Born  on  the  25th  of  July  in  1572,  in  the  parish 
of  S.  Bartholomew-the-less  in  West  Smithfield, 
his  baptism  is  recorded  in  the  register  of  that 
church,  as  well  as  many  other  references  to  the 
family  history.  Evidently  his  strange  name  puzzles 
the  writer  not  a  little,  as  he  makes  many  attempts 
at  spelling  it — "  Enego,"  "  Ennigo,"  etc.  Inigo 
Jones's  father  was  a  clothmaker  by  trade,  and  a 
Roman  Catholic.  Opinions  differ  as  to  his  position  ; 
some  say  he  was  a  rich  merchant,  and  others  that 
he  was  very  poor  and  far  from  being  a  successful 
man.  The  well-known  pride  of  Inigo  Jones  rather 
points  to  the  latter;  he  is  markedly  reticent  upon 
the  subject  of  his  parents  and  his  early  life,  which 
is  therefore  shrouded  in  obscurity  and  can  only  be 
conjectured.  That  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  joiner 
in  S.  Paul's  Churchyard  seems  most  likely,  as  he 
and  this  humble  trade  are  made  a  great  jest  of  more 
than  once  by  his  brilliant  at  one  time  friend,  and 
later  bitter  enemy,  Ben  Jonson.  "It  is  perfectly 
well  known,"  writes  Cunningham,  in  his  Life  of  the 
architect,  "that  In-and-in  Medley,  the  Joiner  of 
Islington,  was  meant  for  Inigo  Jones ;  that  the 
ridicule  which  it  threw  on  his  name  and  history 
caused  him  to  complain,  and  that  in  consequence 
the  representation  was  forbidden."  Certainly  there 


124        A  BOOK   OF   ENGLISH   GARDENS 

seems  no  doubt  about  the  following  passage  from 
"  A  Tale  of  a  Tub  "  :— 


"  Medley. 

Indeed  there  is  a  woundy  luck  in  names,  Sirs, 
And  a  vain  mystery,  an  a  man  knew  where 
To  find  it.     My  godsire's  name  I  tell  you 
Was  In-and-in  Shuttle,  and  a  weaver  he  was, 
And  it  did  fit  his  craft ;  for  so  his  shuttle 
Went  in-and-in  still — this  way  and  then  that  way. 
And  he  named  me  In-and-in  Medley,  which  serves 
A  joiner's  craft,  because  that  we  do  lay 
Things  in-and-in,  in  our  work. 

But  I  am  truly 

Architectonicus  Professor,  rather; 
That  is,  as  one  would  say,  an  architect." 


The  only  occasion  on  which  Inigo  Jones  himself 
gives  any  information  about  his  life  is  in  his  book, 
"  Stonehenge  Restored,"  and  then  it  is  in  a  veiled 
way.  "  Being  naturally  inclined, "he  writes,  "  in  my 
younger  years  to  study  the  arts  of  design,  I  passed 
into  foreign  parts  to  converse  with  the  great  masters 
thereof  in  Italy,  where  I  applied  myself  to  search 
out  the  ruins  of  their  ancient  buildings  which,  in 
despite  of  time  itself  and  violence  of  barbarians,  are 
yet  remaining.  Having  satisfied  myself  in  these 
and  returning  to  my  native  country,  applied  my 
mind  more  particularly  to  the  study  of  archi- 
tecture." 

It  was  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  that 


BECKETT  125 

Inigo  Jones  paid  his  first  visit  to  Italy.  This  journey 
is  said  to  have  been  paid  for  by  William,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  though  Inigo  Jones's  chief  biographer  is 
strongly  opposed  to  the  idea  that  he  had  any  liberal 
patron.  The  language  of  the  quotation  from  his 
own  book  is  certainly  not  that  of  a  man  supplied 
with  money  by  a  patron,  nor  does  it  sound  like  that 
of  a  man  who  spent  his  youth  as  a  "  Joiner  in 
Islington,"  "  a  maker  of  hobby-horses."  The 
fashion  in  vogue  for  Masques  during  the  reigns  of 
King  James  I.  and  King  Charles  L,  brought  Inigo 
Jones  first  into  notice;  for — "Whitehall,  during 
these  reigns,  vied  with  the  Ducal  Palaces  of 
Florence,  Urbino,  and  Ferrara,  in  the  pomp  and 
beauty  of  its  Masques."  Two  great  artists  were 
found  in  England  to  produce  these  Masques  with 
the  most  consummate  art :  Ben  Jonson,  who 
brought  to  the  task  all  his  great  learning,  and 
wrote  the  words,  or  libretto,  in  which  some  of  his 
most  exquisite  lyrics  are  to  be  found  ;  and  Inigo 
Jones,  the  disciple  of  Palladio  and  the  architect  of 
Whitehall,  who  carried  out  the  scenic  effects — 
called  by  Ben  Jonson  "  Machinery,"  with  more 
than  a  master's  hand.  They  were  assisted  by  an 
Italian  composer,  one  Alfonso  Ferrabosco,  who 
wrote  the  music,  and  "  by  an  English  chores- 
grapher,  Thomas  Giles,  who  arranged  the  dances 
and  decided  the  costumes." 

Masques  were  looked  upon  with  favour  by  even 


126        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

grave,  serious  people  like  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  who 
wrote  an  essay  upon  the  subject  of  "  Masques  and 
Triumphs,"  in  which  he  gives  little  information  con- 
cerning them,  but  says,  "  Let  the  scenes  abound 
with  light,  specially  coloured  and  varied  ;  and  let 
the  Masquers  and  any  other,  that  are  to  come  down 
from  the  scene,  have  some  motions  upon  the  scene 
itself  before  their  coming  down  ;  for  it  draws  the 
eye  strangely,  and  makes  it  with  great  pleasure  to 
desire  to  see  that  it  cannot  perfectly  discern,"  and 
much  more  concerning  light  and  colour. 

The  first  Court  Masque  that  combined  the  great 
talents  of  Jonson  and  Jones  was  given  at  White- 
hall on  Twelfth  Night  in  1609,  and  was  called 
"The  Masque  of  Blackness."  It  was  the  first 
entertainment  given  by  the  Queen  (Anne  of 
Denmark),  and  the  subject  was  suggested  by 
her. 

Of  all  the  necessary  scenery,  etc.,  Jonson  gives  a 
minute  description,  and  jealously  adds  at  the  end, 
"  So  much  for  the  bodily  part  which  was  of  Master 
Inigo  Jones  design  and  art." 

This  Masque  cost  ,£3,000  to  produce,  which 
shows  on  what  a  lavish  scale  James  I.  was  willing 
to  pay  for  his  entertainments — very  unlike  his 
economical  predecessor,  Queen  Elizabeth,  who  only 
cared  for  her  subjects  to  provide  such  costly 
pleasures  for  her  amusement. 

Of  all    the    Masques    arranged   and  written    by 


BECKETT  127 

Jones  and  Jonson,  perhaps  the  most  charming  is 
that  of  "The  Hue  and  Cry  after  Cupid."  Venus 
complains  that  Cupid  has  run  away,  and  she  bids 
the  Graces  cry  him,  in  those  dainty,  exquisite 
lines  : — 

"  Beauties,  have  you  seen  this  toy, 
Called  Love,  a  little  boy, 
Almost  naked,  wanton,  blind ; 
Cruel  now,  and  then  as  kind? 
If  he  be  amongst  ye,  say ! 
He  is  Venus'  runaway. 

He  hath  marks  about  him  plenty, 
You  shall  know  him  among  twenty, 
All  his  body  is  a  fire, 
And  his  breath  a  flame  entire, 
That  being  shot,  like  lightning  in, 
Wounds  the  heart,  but  not  the  skin." 


This  Masque  was  celebrated  with  the  greatest 
magnificence,  being  "  intended  for  my  Lord  Had- 
dington's  marriage  is  now  the  only  thing  thought 
upon  at  Court."  Five  English  and  seven  Scotch 
Lords  took  part  in  it — "  it  will  cost  them  about 
^300  a  man,"  writes  the  same  pen. 

Successive  Masques  quickly  brought  Inigo  Jones 
into  a  prominent  position  in  the  eyes  of  the  King, 
the  Court,  and  the  fashionable  world. 

King  James,  poorest  of  kings,  while  governing 
the  richest  of  nations — dreamt  of  a  palace  grander 
and  greater  than  any  in  Europe,  and  soon  enlisted 


128        A  BOOK  OF   ENGLISH  GARDENS 

the  genius  of  Inigo  Jones  in  his  ambitious  project. 
The  Banqueting  Hall  is  the  sole  sign  of  this  would- 
be  magnificent  Palace  of  Whitehall,  which  certainly, 
if  it  had  been  built,  would  have  rivalled  the  most 
gorgeous  palaces  of  the  world.  But  it  existed  only 
on  paper.  The  empty  exchequer  and  the  fatal  Civil 
Wars  in  Charles  I.'s  reign  finally  put  an  end  to  all 
idea  of  the  building  of  this  palace,  and  the  splendid 
designs  have  remained  till  now  in  a  portfolio.  King 
James  having  determined  to  carry  out  a  part  at 
least  of  Inigo  Jones's  plan,  the  first  stone  of  the 
Banqueting  Hall  was  laid  in  1619.  It  was  finished 
in  two  years,  being  much  admired  for  its  elegance 
and  proportion — ''hardly  inferior  to  the  best  work  of 
the  Italian  masters." 

Strange  irony  of  fate,  that  Inigo  Jones  should 
live  to  see  his  second  "  Royal  Master  step  out  of 
his  own  Banqueting  Hall  at  Whitehall  on  to  the 
scaffold  to  his  death." 

The  quarrel  of  Ben  Jonson  and  Inigo  Jones  is 
one  that  often  results  from  very  ordinary  people 
working  together,  and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  it  occurred  between  these  two  men  of  genius. 
Each  considered  the  other  the  lesser  star,  and 
neither  wished  to  be  subservient  to  the  other. 
The  poet  desired  the  chief  glory  for  himself;  in 
his  introduction  to  the  "  Hymenaei"  he  writes  :  "It 
is  a  noble  and  just  advantage  that  the  things  sub- 
jected to  understanding  have  of  those  which  are 


BECKETT  129 

objected  to  sense ;  that  the  one  sort  are  but 
momentary,  and  merely  taking ;  the  other  im- 
pressing and  lasting  ;  else  the  glory  of  all  these 
solemnities  had  perished  like  a  blaze,  and  gone 
out,  in  the  beholder's  eyes.  So  short-lived  are  the 
bodies  of  all  things  in  comparison  of  their  souls." 

Inigo  Jones  was  not  the  man  to  be  willing  to 
take  a  secondary  place,  so  they  ceased  to  work 
together  and  became  as  great  enemies  as  they  had 
been  friends.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jonson  was 
right,  and  that  his  part  in  the  Masques  was  the 
greater,  and  that  if  Inigo  Jones  had  not  left  behind 
him  other  works  his  name  would  long  ago  have 
been  forgotten.  He,  however,  managed  to  gain 
and  keep  Court  favour,  while  Jonson  died,  after  a 
lingering  illness,  in  dire  poverty.  Unfortunately 
he  demeaned  his  last  years  by  making  allusions 
and  accusations  of  the  very  meanest  kind  against 
his  old  friend.  So  much  so  that  Howel,  in  one  of 
his  letters  to  the  poet,  says  :  "  I  heard  you  cen- 
sured lately  at  Court,  that  you  have  lighted  too 
foul  upon  Sir  Inigo,  and  that  you  write  with  a 
porcupine's  quill  dipt  in  too  much  gall ;  excuse  me 
that  I  am  so  free  with  you,  it  is  because  I  am  in  no 
common  way  of  friendship  yours." 

In  consequence  of  Howel's  remonstrances,  "  Jon- 
son recalled  and  destroyed  every  copy  of  his  '  Tale 
of  a  Tub,'  and  after  his  death  not  a  line  of  it  was 
found.  One  copy,  however,  escaped  destruction, 


130        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

to  give  evidence  of  the  quarrel  between  poet  and 
architect  to  future  generations." 

During  the  Civil  Wars  Inigo  Jones  joined  the 
Royalist  forces,  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  Oliver 
Cromwell  at  the  fall  of  Basing,  as  well  as  some 
other  notable  men,  such  as  Faithorne,  Wenceslaus, 
and  Hollar  (who  engraved  Vandyck's  sketch  of 
Inigo  Jones). 

The  latter  end  of  the  architect's  life  was  filled 
with  sadness ;  "  he  tasted  early  the  misfortunes  of 
his  Master  (Charles  I.)."  "So  in  disgrace,  grief, 
misfortune  and  age  ended  his  life — and  death 
found  him  willing  of  its  embrace."  He  died  in 
June,  1653,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  and  was  buried  in 
S.  Bennet's  Church,  Paul's  Wharf. 

Opinions  differ  very  widely  as  to  Inigo  Jones's 
position  as  an  architect,  but  the  school  of  to-day 
would  agree  with  Horace  Walpole's  comment, 
"  Were  a  table  to  be  formed  for  men  of  real 
and  undisputed  genius  in  every  country,  this 
name  (Inigo  Jones)  alone  would  save  England 
from  the  reproach  of  not  having  her  representa- 
tive among  the  arts;  she  adopted  Holbein  and 
Vandyke ;  she  borrowed  Rubens ;  she  produced 
Inigo  Jones." 

The  country  all  round  Beckett  is  of  the  greatest 
interest,  lying  near  the  Vale  of  the  White  Horse, 
so  closely  associated  with  the  great  King  Alfred, 
the  King  having  been  born  at  Faringdon,  only 


BECKETT  131 

five  miles  from  Beckett,  and  the  whole  neighbour- 
hood is  filled  with  quaint  old  legends  of  him  and 
his  people. 

In  former  days  Beckett  used  to  be  written 
"  Becote,"  and  belonged  to  the  Earls  of  Evreux, 
who  gave  it  to  the  Priory  of  Norion,  in  Normandy. 
King  John,  coveting  the  house  and  lands,  seized 
them  in  1 204,  and  liked  the  place  so  well  that  he 
lived  there  for  some  time — a  fact  proved  by  an 
existing  mandate  sent  by  him  to  the  Sheriff  of 
Oxfordshire,  which  bears  his  signature  and  was 
written  at  Becote.  Later  the  Manor  belonged  to  a 
family  who  took  their  name  from  it,  calling  them- 
selves "  De  Beckote,"  and  who  held  it  by  tenure  of 
a  very  fanciful  kind,  reading  quite  like  a  passage 
from  Malory's  "  Morte  d' Arthur" — it  was  that  they 
were  to  meet  the  King,  whenever  he  should  pass 
Fowyeares  Mill  Bridge,  Shrivenham,  with  two 
white  capons  in  their  hands,  saying,  "  Ecce  Domine 
istos  duos  capones  quos  alias  habebitis  sed  non 
nunc." 

Beckett  is  much  altered  since  the  days  of  Inigo 
Jones.  The  old  Manor  House  has  disappeared  ; 
it  was  partly  destroyed  during  the  Civil  Wars,  and 
was  finally  pulled  down  to  make  way  for  the  new 
house,  which  is  placed  a  little  further  back  than  the 
old  site,  and  was  built  in  1831  by  the  sixth  Viscount 
Barrington  from  the  designs  of  his  brother-in-law, 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Liddell. 


132        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  house  is  surrounded  by  a  small  and 
picturesque  Park,  filled  with  many  beautiful  trees, 
but  the  gardens  are  not  extensive,  being  chiefly 
of  the  same  date  as  the  present  house.  Traces  of 
older  Gardens,  though,  still  remain,  testified  to 
by  the  masses  of  clipped  Yew  and  Box  in  which 
the  Garden  abounds.  It  is  these  beautiful  dark 
Yews  and  close-clipped  Box  hedges  which,  with  the 
Garden  House,  are  the  chief  beauties  of  Beckett, 
it  being  one  of  those  Gardens  possessing  a  beauty 
of  green  instead  of  a  glory  of  flowers. 

A  large  piece  of  ornamental  water,  already  men- 
tioned with  the  Garden  House,  lies  close  to  the 
Terrace  of  the  house,  nearly  encircling  the  green 
Lawns  which  surround  it.  This  lake  was  made  out 
of  what  used  to  be  a  stream  in  Inigo  Jones's  time. 
The  alteration  was  made  when  the  house  was  built 
by  the  6th  Lord  Barrington,  and  the  present 
Gardens  were  laid  out  from  plans  made  by  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Liddell,  vistas  being  cut  in  the  trees 
to  allow  the  distant  hills  to  be  seen. 

On  the  far  side  of  the  lake  there  is  a  wood — 
or  Wilderness,  as  it  was  called  in  the  old  days. 
Long  grass  walks,  clipped  hedges  of  Laurel, 
Box  or  Yew,  and  a  beautiful  green  Bower — 
enclosing  high  Elms  and  Beeches — are  all  rem- 
nants of  an  older  Garden.  The  large  modern 
Lawns  which  surround  the  House  slope  gradually 
down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  are  planted  with 


BECKETT  133 

many  fine  trees,  Cedars  of  various  kinds,  and 
Umbrella  Pines  (both  planted  by  the  6th  Lord 
Barrington),  also  Catalpas,  and  some  very  hand- 
some Elms. 

There  are  many  fascinating  walks  at  Beckett ; 
one,  particularly  charming,  is  the  "  Old  Lord's 
Terrace  "  (often  called  the  Haunted  Walk) ;  it  runs 
from  the  House  across  the  lake — on  stone  piers — 
and  has  beautiful  springy  Moss  underfoot.  It  is 
very  dark,  very  green,  and  very  solemn,  with  its 
edge  of  venerable  Yews  trimly  clipped.  At  the  end 
of  this  walk  stands  a  magnificent  old  Yew,  like 
a  huge  pillar — just  the  spot  to  be  haunted  by  any- 
thing from  wicked  little  sprites  to  an  unrestful  soul. 
There  is  an  old  legend  which  says  the  place  is  haunted 
by  a  lady,  but  the  story  is  wrapt  in  mystery. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  House  there  is  a  grass 
Terrace  with  a  sloping  bank,  edged  on  one  side  by 
high,  cut  Yews,  allowed  to  grow  freely  at  the  top. 
It  leads  down  to  the  water's  edge  ;  on  the  other 
side  the  bank  rises  more  gently,  and  is  edged  on 
either  side  by  high  Elms  and  Beeches,  which  form 
part  of  the  wilderness. 

The  geometrical  Parterres  containing  flowers, 
which  were  arranged  along  the  space  between  the 
west  Terrace  and  the  Yew  plantation,  were  turfed 
over  by  the  6th  Viscount  Barrington. 

The  alteration  of  an  old  Garden  must  always 
create  a  feeling  of  regret — regret  at  the  loss  of  the 


134        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

original  whole,  so  seldom  to  be  met  with  nowadays ; 
and  whatever  charm  alterations  may  bring  in  their 
train,  they  rarely  atone  for  this  loss. 

The  old  Manor  House  and  Garden  at  Beckett 
possessed,  in  all  probability,  much  interest  and 
beauty,  to  judge  from  the  Garden  House  built  by 
the  great  architect  on  the  side  of  the  lake,  where  it 
is  set  like  a  rare  gem  in  the  midst  of  flowers,  with 
a  rich  background  of  dark  Yews. 


BROWNSEA    ISLAND,    DORSETSHIRE 


"...  And  yet  studded  with  gardens ;  where  the  salt  and 
tumbling  sea  receives  clear  rivers  running  from  among  reeds 
and  lilies ;  fruitful  and  austere ;  a  rustic  world ;  sunshiny,  lewd, 
and  cruel.  What  is  it  the  birds  sing  among  the  trees  in  pairing- 
time  ?  What  means  the  sound  of  the  rain  falling  far  and  wide 
upon  the  leafy  forest  ?  To  what  tune  does  the  fisherman  whistle, 
as  he  hauls  in  his  net  at  morning,  and  the  bright  fish  are  heaped 
inside  the  boat  ?  These  are  all  airs  upon  Pan's  pipe ;  .  .  . 
some,  like  sour  spectators  at  the  play,  receive  the  music  into 
their  hearts  with  an  unmoved  countenance,  and  walk  like 
strangers  through  the  general  rejoicing.  But  let  him  feign  never 
so  carefully,  there  is  not  a  man  but  has  his  pulses  shaken  when 
Pan  trots  out  a  stave  of  ecstasy  and  sets  the  world  a-singing." — 
Virginibus  Puerisqtie. 

ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON 


VII 

BROWNSEA    ISLAND,    DORSETSHIRE 

PLINY  the  elder  says  "that  Plautus  assigneth 
the  custodie  of  Gardens  to  the  protection  of 
the  Goddess  Venus."  This  gives  birth  to  the  vain 
fantasy  that  once  upon  a  time  the  ever-changing 
beauty  of  the  Gardens  at  Brownsea  enticed  Venus 
to  visit  the  Island  where  they  lay.  And  as  she 
wandered  flowers  sprang  up  at  her  feet,  and  the 
fragrance  of  her  floating  garment  perfumed  the  air 
for  ever.  Her  presence  laid  such  a  spell  upon  the 
spot  that  since  then  many  a  man  and  woman  living 
on  the  Island  became  enchanted  with  its  beauty, 
desirous  of  living  there  for  all  time,  happier 
within  its  sea-lapped  meadows  than  anywhere  else 
in  the  wide  world.  In  remembrance  of  the 
Goddess  of  Love  and  Beauty,  the  Island  has 
ever  been  a  favourite  with  birds  of  every  kind ; 
the  Plover,  the  Red-Shank,  the  Green-Shank,  the 
Crossbill,  and  the  beautiful  Kingfisher,  and  many 
others  live  in  the  Gardens  and  marsh-land. 


138        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

And  the  trees  and  flowers  have  flourished 
luxuriantly  ever  since  her  visit!  For,  truth  to 
tell,  the  whole  Island  is  like  one  vast  wild 
Flower-garden,  all  the  year  round,  carpeted  with 
Daffodils,  blue  Hyacinths,  and  pale  Primroses  in 
Spring,  and  in  the  Summer  months  decked  in  a 
dainty  ball-dress  of  pink  Bell  Heather.  Dyed 
golden  during  Autumn  with  the  orange-coloured 
Bracken  and  yellow  Furze,  the  many  Pines  and 
Shrubs  with  which  the  Island  abounds  keep  it 
green  throughout  the  Winter. 

That  all  this  wonderful  wild-flower  beauty  is  to 
be  found  upon  a  small  island  adds  greatly  to  the 
charm.  Nothing  shows  the  delicate  transparency 
and  colour  of  a  flower  like  the  clear  sea  air,  and 
nothing  is  quite  so  lovely  as  a  Garden  of  flowers 
by  the  sea. 

To  gain  this  enchanted  Island  by  boat  is  only  a 
matter  of  a  few  minutes.  The  Garden  entrance  is 
found  after  landing  at  a  stone  pier,  by  passing 
through  a  door  in  the  pier-house,  into  a  long 
passage  (built  out  over  the  water)  which  leads  to  it. 
Coming  so  suddenly  into  the  warm,  sheltered  spot, 
from  the  fresh  sea-breeze,  gives  quite  an  exotic 
feeling  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  Garden,  especially 
when  on  every  side — Lavender,  Roses,  Honey- 
suckle, Mignonette,  Lemon  Verbena,  Tobacco 
Plant,  Jessamine,  scented  Geranium,  and  Helio- 
trope perfume  the  air  with  their  fragrance.  The 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  139 

present  owner  of  Brownsea,  Mr.  Van  Raalte,  has 
greatly  changed  and  improved  this  Garden. 
Formerly  it  had  a  very  large  Conservatory  across 
one  end,  with  a  glass  passage  from  it,  leading  round 
the  side  of  the  Garden,  and  forming  a  covered  way 
from  the  pier  to  the  house.  But  when  the  house 
was  rebuilt,  after  the  fire  in  1896,  this  was  done 
away  with,  the  whole  effect  being  vastly  improved. 

Conservatories  and  glass  passages  are  great  blots 
upon  any  Garden  ;  the  only  method  of  reducing  this 
necessary  evil  to  a  minimum  being  to  sink  them 
almost  out  of  sight. 

Roses  have  been  planted,  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  Garden,  where  the  Conservatories  formerly 
stood.  Against  the  north  wall,  amid  a  mass  of 
green  foliage  of  every  shade,  is  a  stone  Fountain 
supported  by  dolphins ;  little  stone  cupids  hang 
over  the  water,  which  splashes  unceasingly  on  to 
the  dolphins  below,  and  runs  over  two  steps  into 
the  semicircular  basin  beneath,  which  basin  is 
surrounded  by  a  narrow  verge  of  grass. 

Near  the  Fountain,  against  the  wall,  grows  a  fine 
Eucalyptus  tree  (showing  the  mildness  of  the 
climate),  its  dull,  silvery  leaves  being  a  charming 
background  and  delightful  contrast  to  the  delicate 
pink  Roses  growing  there. 

A  little  flagged  stone  path  runs  round  the 
Fountain,  beside  the  wall,  past  a  semicircular  lattice 
window  in  the  latter,  through  which  are  to  be  seen 


140        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

glorious  glimpses  of  the  sea,  often  the  colour  in  the 
sunlight  of  the  deepest  turquoise. 

Another  charming  feature  is  a  Sundial,  formed  by 
a  little  lead  figure  of  Cupid,  supporting  the  dial 
above  his  head.  It  stands  on  the  grass  in  the 
centre  of  the  Rose  Garden,  between  the  Fountain 
and  two  large  Irish  Yews. 

The  whole  feeling  of  this  little  Rose  Paradise — 
if  it  may  be  so  called — with  its  Fountain,  Amorini, 
dark  Yews,  and  flagged  pathway  is  deliciously 
Italian.  For  on  a  vivid  Summer's  day  in  the  heavy, 
scented  air,  and  with  the  gentle  lapping  of  the  sea, 
it  might  easily  be  thought  to  be  some  old  Garden 
upon  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Only, 
beautiful  as  Italy  is,  and  ever  will  be,  there  is  here 
a  glimmer  of  some  inexplicable  light  and  shade — 
some  touch  of  colour,  some  dreamy  sadness  not 
found  in  the  land  of  Petrarch  and  Tasso,  but  only 
in  sad,  grey  England,  the  home  of  Chaucer  and 
Shakespear.  A  Rose  Garden  must  always  possess 
a  magic  fascination,  perhaps  because,  as  old  Gerade 
writes:  "  The  Rose  doth  deserve  the  chiefest  and 
most  principall  place  among  all  flowers  whatsoever  ; 
being  not  only  esteemed  for  his  beautie,  virtues,  and 
his  fragrant  smell,  but  also  because  it  is  the  honour 
and  ornament  of  our  English  Sceptre."  A  book  of 
many  volumes  could  be  written  upon  this  one 
flower,  of  its  beauty,  its  pride,  its  perfume,  and  last, 
but  not  least,  its  exquisite  grace. 


THE    WALL    FOUNTAIN,   BROWNSEA 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  141 

Every  poet,  from  Omar  onward,  has  chanted  lays 
in  honour  of  this  Queen  of  Flowers.  The  words 
of  Cowper  picture  very  nearly  the  little  Rose 
Garden  at  Brownsea,  save  that  here  the  Roses  are 
chiefly  pink  : — 

"The  scentless  and  the  scented  Rose;  the  red 
And  of  an  humbler  growth,  the  other  tall 
And  throwing  up  into  the  darkest  gloom 
Of  neighbouring  Cypress  or  more  sable  Yew. 
Her  silver  globes,  light  as  the  foaming  surf 
That  the  wind  severs  from  the  broken  wave." 

This  Rose  plot  is  divided  from  the  rest  of  the 
Garden  (which  is  on  a  slightly  higher  level)  by  a 
low  Terrace  wall.  Four  enormous  Irish  Yews  stand 
sentinel  near  by,  emphasising  the  Italian  feeling 
that  lingers  over  this  Garden. 

The  walls  of  the  Terrace  are  covered  with 
Roses,  Fig  trees,  and  Honeysuckle,  and  down  the 
two  sides  of  the  Garden,  under  the  upper  Terrace 
wall,  are  long  beds  of  herbaceous  plants  glowing 
with  colour. 

This  upper  Terrace  has  its  own  special  charm  and 
beauty,  and  many  picturesque  effects.  For  instance, 
the  Terrace  wall  possesses  the  uncommon  feature 
of  not  being  level  along  the  top,  but  drops  down 
in  a  graceful  curve  at  intervals,  like  a  chain  sus- 
pended between  posts.  Stone  vases — some  of 
which  are  filled  with  flowers — stand  on  this  wall 


142        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

between  each  curve.  At  equal  distances  along  the 
stone-flagged  Terrace  boxes  are  planted  with  Bay 
trees,  clipped  into  the  shape  of  balls  at  the  top 
of  their  long,  thin  stems.  Everything  is  in  keeping 
with  the  general  decorative  design  of  this  Terrace 
Garden.  An  old-world  Sundial,  of  vase-like  shape, 
standing  on  a  low  octagonal  step,  marks  the  hours 
of  sunshine — and  they  are  many — in  the  midst  of 
this  Garden.  In  the  grass  round  the  Sundial  are 
Flower-beds,  the  colour  scheme  of  which  is  arranged 
with  great  artistic  knowledge.  The  flowers  chosen 
shade  from  the  palest  pink  to  the  deepest  crimson, 
and  are  framed  in  a  border  of  grey  Rabbit's  Ear 
(Stachys  lanata)  and  sweet-smelling  Mignonette. 

The  ground  on  which  the  house  is  built  is  so 
uneven  that  above  this  Garden  is  another  paved 
Terrace,  on  the  level  of  the  first  floor  of  the  house, 
and  from  it  steps  lead  down  and  down  till  they 
reach  the  sea-shore.  From  this  upper  Terrace  the 
view  is  one  of  ever-changing  beauty  and  interest  ; 
ships  of  various  kinds  are  for  ever  passing  and 
repassing  along  the  water  highway.  Three-masted 
schooners  laden  with  wood,  or  picturesque  London 
barges  with  red  sails  swelling  in  the  wind,  a  fishing 
smack,  or  perhaps  a  little  rowing  boat,  come  and 
go,  appearing  and  disappearing  between  the  Ilex 
trees  and  Pines  that  fringe  the  shore. 

Towards  the  centre  of  the  Island  lies  the  Kitchen 
Garden,  far-famed  for  its  wonderful  Lavender 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  143 

hedges  (Lavender  flourishing  almost  like  a  weed 
in  the  sandy  soil)  and  a  Pergola  of  Apple  trees, 
which  in  spring  is  like  a  fairy  web  of  interlacing 
boughs,  covered  with  delicate  white  gossamer 
blossoms.  Though  this  is  called  a  Kitchen  Garden, 
it  has  no  appearance  of  the  ordinary  Garden  of  that 
name,  but  is  rather  a  fantastic  maze  of  walks  among 
a  mass  of  flowers.  Down  the  centre  of  this  Garden 
runs  a  long  gravel  path,  which  is  kept  gay  right  up 
to  October  by  a  border  filled  to  overflowing  with 
herbaceous  plants,  its  whole  length  edged  with 
Cushion  Pinks,  which  are  indigenous  to  the  soil. 
In  the  middle  of  this  pathway,  to  break  the  long 
line,  a  Maypole,  or  pillar,  is  set  up,  hung  with 
festoons  of  Roses,  while  branching  to  right  and 
left  are  Pergolas  of  Roses.  Under  this  sweet- 
smelling  shade  grow  clustering  bunches  of  White 
Pinks  and  other  flowers.  On  three  sides  this  Garden 
is  confined  by  hedges  of  close-clipped  Laurel,  and 
on  the  fourth  by  the  Grape  and  Peach  Houses. 

In  the  very  midst  of  the  Island,  near  the  Kitchen 
Garden,  are  two  lakes,  one  below  the  other,  both  fed 
by  springs.  These  lakes  are  surrounded  by  trees, 
and  are  so  sheltered  and  quiet  that  the  spot  is 
beloved  by  wild  duck  and  other  water-birds. 

From  this  lovely  Garden,  with  its  Terraces, 
Fountains,  and  perfumes,  it  is  necessary  to  turn  to 
find  out  a  little  of  the  history  of  the  Island  on  which 
it  lies — though  in  reality  the  Garden  is  the  Island, 


144        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

and  the  Island  a  Garden — and  also  to  learn  who 
helped  to  make  all  its  present  beauty.  Brownsea 
Island  is  oval  in  shape  and  lies  at  the  east  end  of 
Poole  Harbour.  It  is  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length, 
and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  the  broadest 
part,  and  contains  about  800  acres  of  land,  which 
has  the  great  advantage  of  being  very  well  watered. 
In  early  days  Brownsea  was  covered  with  Heath, 
Furze,  and  Fern,  but  the  sandy  soil  has  proved 
splendid  for  a  large  number  of  plants  and  flowers. 
Mr.  Benson,  one  of  the  owners  of  the  house, 
was  devoted  to  Gardening  and  had  a  collection — 
numbering  many  hundreds — made  of  the  varieties 
of  plants  growing  on  the  Island. 

The  name  Brownsea  has  been  written  many 
different  ways — Brunsi,  Branksey,  Bronksey,  Brink- 
sea,  or  Brink  of  the  Sea.  The  origin  of  the  name 
is  difficult  to  trace.  According  to  Mr.  Van  Raalte 
it  is  derived  from  "  Bruno,"  to  whom  the  Island 
belonged  in  Edward  the  Confessor's  time. 

Brownsea  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Doomsday 
Book,  but  was  probably  included  in  the  Survey 
of  Studland.  Leland,  on  one  of  his  many  journeys 
for  Henry  VIII.,  gives  the  earliest  description  of 
Brownsea :  "  There  ly  three  isles  in  the  haven  of 
Poole,  whereof  the  most  famous  is  Brunkesney, 
sum  say  that  there  has  been  a  paroch  in  it.  There 
is  yet  a  Chappel  for  an  H eremite.  It  longeth  to 
Cerne  Abbey."  In  the  records  of  Cerne  Abbey 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  145 

the  "  Chappel "  is  mentioned ;  it  was  dedicated  to 
St.  Andrew. 

The  Island  in  early  days  seems  to  have  been  a 
convenient  place  of  retreat  for  the  Danes  after 
raiding  and  pillaging  along  the  coast. 

In  an  old  MS.  Life  of  St.  Ethel  wold  (brother  of 
King  Edmund),  the  monkish  chronicler  writes  : 
"  Canutus,  having  spoiled  the  church  and  monastery 
of  Cerne,  took  to  the  haven,  and  sailed  thence  to 
Branksey,  i.e.,  Brank's  Island  :  which  is  two  miles 
from  Poole ;  having  in  it  no  buildings  save  a 
chapel  only." 

The  wreck  of  the  sea  at  Brownsea  was  granted 
to  the  Abbot  of  Cerne  by  Henry  II.,  showing  that 
the  Island  at  that  date  was  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  monks.  It  continued  to  be  so  till  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monasteries  by  Henry  VIII.,  who  had  a 
square  tower  built,  as  a  block-house,  on  the  Island, 
to  protect  the  harbour  of  Poole,  that  town  agreeing 
to  send  six  men  to  "  watch  "  it.  Afterwards  this 
was  construed  into  their  providing  a  garrison  and 
also  repairing  the  fort,  on  which  the  inhabitants  of 
Poole  had  to  spend  large  sums  of  money. 

John  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  was  the  first 
private  possessor  of  Brownsea,  Henry  VIII.  grant- 
ing him  the  "Island  and  water  surrounding"  it. 
He,  however,  soon  passed  the  gift  on,  having 
gained  permission  to  dispose  of  it  to  Richard  Duke, 
and  his  heirs. 


146       A  BOOK  0$  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

A  very  good  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  Castle, 
or  Block-house,  in  1552,  can  be  gained  from  docu- 
ments of  that  date.  The  square  of  the  tower  was 
44  feet,  and  the  height  176  feet,  the  walls  being 
6J  feet  thick  and  built  of  freestone,  forming 
altogether  a  pretty  solid  piece  of  work — very 
different  to  what  is  done  in  these  jerry-building 
days.  Later,  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  mayor  and 
burgesses  of  Poole  petitioned  the  Privy  Council  to 
help  them  in  repairing  the  Castle,  it  having  become 
a  source  of  danger.  Elizabeth  graciously  granted  a 
"  delivery  of  cannon  and  ammunition,"  but  shrewdly 
insisted  upon  the  mayor  and  the  town  supplying,  as 
of  old,  "  the  six  men  to  watch  and  ward."  After 
this  grant  the  Castle  was  styled  "the  Queen's 
Majesty's  Castell  of  Brounecksey."  By  far  the 
most  interesting  possessor  of  Brownsea  in  those 
days  was  Sir  Christopher  Hatton.  Owing  little  to 
his  birth  (being  the  third  son  of  a  gentleman  in 
Northamptonshire),  perhaps  less  to  his  brains,  and 
all  to  his  graceful  appearance,  Sir  Christopher  was 
indeed  born  under  a  lucky  star.  Sir  Richard 
Naunton  writes  of  him  as  "a  gentleman  that 
besides  the  graces  of  his  person  and  dancing,  had 
also  the  endowment  of  a  strong  and  subtile 
capabilitie,  and  that  could  soone  learne  the 
Discipline  and  Garbe,  both  of  the  times  and  Court, 
and  the  truth  is,  he  had  a  large  proportion  of  gifts 
and  endowments,  but  too  much  of  the  season  of 


ISLAND  14? 

envy,  and  he  was  a  mere  vegitable  of  the  Court 
that  sprang  up  at  night  and  sunke  againe  at  his 
noone."  In  1561  the  members  of  the  Inner  Temple 
celebrated  Christmas  by  representing  a  splendid 
Masque  in  which  Hatton  played  the  part  of  "  Master 
of  the  Games  "  ;  the  notice  of  the  Queen,  who  was 
present,  was  immediately  attracted  by  his  appear- 
ance. As  Camden  says  :  "  Being  young  and  a 
comely  talleness  of  body  and  countenance  he  got 
into  such  favour  with  the  Queen,  that  she  took  him 
into  her  band  of  fifty  Gentlemen  pensioners." 
Unlike  most  Royal  favourites,  Hatton  made  more 
friends  than  enemies.  But  he  roused  the  jealousy 
of  Leicester,  who,  on  account  of  the  Queen's  admira- 
tion for  Hatton's  dancing,  suggested  to  his  royal 
mistress  the  introduction  of  a  dancing-master,  who 
excelled  her  favourite  in  every  way.  "  But  Eliza- 
beth drew  a  proper  distinction  between  the  merit 
of  an  artist  and  the  skill  of  an  amateur."  "  Pish," 
she  said  contemptuously,  "  I  will  not  see  your  man 
— it  is  his  trade." 

The  Queen's  partiality  caused  "  much  envy,  and 
some  scandal  "  ;  perhaps  calling  her  favourite  such 
nicknames  as  "Lydds"  (Lids)  and  "sheep"  was  un- 
dignified in  so  great  a  sovereign.  It  was  in  1 574  that 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  with  the  Queen's  consent, 
applied  to  Dr.  Cox,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  for  the  lease 
of  the  episcopal  house  in  Ely  Place,  Holborn — 
afterwards  Hatton  Garden.  The  Bishop  made  a 


148        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

desperate  effort  to  save  the  property  of  his  see,  and 
refused  to  relinquish  his  house  to  Sir  Christopher, 
thus  calling  down  upon  his  head  the  well-known 
reprimand  from  the  Queen  :  "  Proud  Prelate !  I 
understand  you  are  backward  in  complying  with 
your  agreement,  but  I  would  have  you  know,  that  I 
who  made  you  what  you  are  can  unmake  you  ;  and 
if  you  do  not  forthwith  fulfil  your  engagement  by 
God  I  will  immediately  unfrock  you.  Elizabeth." 

Sir  Christopher  Hatton's  appointment  to  the 
Chancellorship  was  very  unpopular  at  the  time,  he 
being  put  above  many  men  who  had  a  greater  right 
to  the  position.  His  marvellous  tact,  however,  as 
usual  smoothed  his  way — in  time.  It  was  wittily 
saifl  "  that  he  made  up  for  his  want  of  law  by  his 
constant  desire  to  do  what  was  just !  "  Perhaps 
those  who  were  indifferent  as  to  justice  were 
reconciled  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  by  his  far-famed 
dinners,  and  the  excellent  sack  which  flowed  at 
them.  Queen  Elizabeth  granted  Brownsea  to  Sir 
Christopher  Hatton  in  1576,  with  Corfe  Castle. 
And  at  the  same  time  he  was  made  Admiral  of 
Purbeck.  The  people  of  Poole  were  not  best 
pleased  with  this  gift  of  the  Queen's,  and  a  dispute 
arose  between  them  and  Sir  Christopher  Hatton 
with  regard  to  the  right  of  the  Castle  to  the  profits 
of  the  ferry  between  the  haven  points.  The  quarrel 
ended  in  a  small  fight,  a  bark,  The  Bountiful 
Gift,  being  fired  on  from  Brownsea  for  not  obey- 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  149 

ing  orders,  and  the  captain  and  one  of  the  crew 
were  killed.  This  incident  is  all  quaintly  described 
in  the  register  of  St.  James's  Church  at  Poole. 

The  many  letters  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  wrote 
to  the  Queen  might  almost  be  called  love-letters,  so 
passionate  is  their  language.  In  one  of  the  last  he 
ever  wrote — after  he  had  fallen  under  her  dis- 
pleasure, he  writes  :  "If  the  wounds  of  thought 
were  not  most  dangerous  of  all  without  speedy 
dressing,  I  should  not  now  trouble  your  Majesty  with 
the  tones  of  my  complaint,  and  if  whatsoever  came 
from  you  were  not  either  very  gracious  or  grievous 
to  me,  what  you  said  would  not  sink  so  deeply  in 
my  bosom.  .  .  . 

"  My  profession  hath  been,  is,  and  ever  shall  be 
to  your  Majesty,  all  duty,  within  order,  all  reverent 
love  without  measure,  and  all  truth  without  blame  !  " 

Shortly  before  his  death,  in  1591,  he  was  much 
harassed  by  the  Queen's  insisting  on  the  repayment 
of  a  large  sum  of  money  which  he  owed  to  the 
Crown.  The  sum  amounted  to  ,£42,000,  so  it  was 
small  wonder  that  his  last  days  were  filled  with 
anxiety.  According  to  old  Fuller,  "It  brake  his 
heart,  that  the  Queen  (which  seldom  gave  boons, 
and  never  forgave  due  debts)  rigorously  demanded 
payment  for  some  arrears."  Nowadays  it  has  been 
proved  that  Elizabeth,  though  desiring  the  money, 
was  not  so  heartless  as  old  historians  represent,  for 
she  visited  him  and  prescribed  a  cordial.  But 


150        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

sorrow  at  her  displeasure,  and  anxiety  about  his 
debts,  as  well  as  disease,  all  combined  to  kill  him  at 
the  age  of  fifty-one. 

A  greater  man  than  Hatton  possessed  Brownsea 
Island  for  a  very  short  time.  No  other,  in  fact, 
than  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  first  Earl  of  Salisbury  ; 
who  already  owned  Hatfield,  having  exchanged 
Theobald's  for  it  with  King  James.  Nothing  is 
known  of  Brownsea  during  his  ownership  of  it — 
whether  he  ever  stayed  there,  or  if  he  only  used 
it  as  a  means  of  gaining  money  for  other  pleasures. 
The  Castle  was  well  fortified  by  the  Parliamentary 
party  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.  Bury,  the 
treasurer  for  the  county,  mentions  "  large  chests  of 
musquets  "  as  coming  from  Weymouth.  Old  books 
say  that  Charles  II.'s  visit  to  Poole  and  Brownsea 
was  owing  to  his  fear  of  the  Plague — which  conduct 
appears  somewhat  out  of  keeping  with  the  character 
of  the  Merry  Monarch.  But  whatever  the  cause, 
he  certainly  visited  Poole ;  and  the  record  of  his 
visit  runs  thus :  "  After  dinner  it  pleased  His 
Majesty  with  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  and  Lord 
Ashley  to  take  Coll.  William  Skult's  boat  to 
Brownsea,  steered  by  the  sayd  Collonel  and  rowed 
by  six  masters  of  shipps,  where  his  Majesty  tooke 
an  exact  view  of  the  said  island,  castle,  and  bay, 
and  this  harbour,  to  his  great  contentment,  and 
then  returned  in  the  said  boat  unto  the  key  of 
Poole,  where  the  said  mayor  had  the  honour  to 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  151 

hand  his  Majesty  on  shore,  from  whence  he  went 
on  foot  to  the  house  of  the  said  Collonel." 

It  was  Richard  Haycalt,  who  first  established 
copperas  works  at  Brownsea.  And  it  was  in 
Charles  II.'s  reign  that  the  works  were  opened 
again  by  Sir  Robert  Clayton,  at  one  time  Lord 
Mayor  of  London,  and  a  very  rich,  clever,  business 
man,  who  thought  to  gain  money  by  working  them. 
They  were  finally  closed  in  1704. 

An  interesting  allusion  is  made  to  Brownsea  and 
these  works  in  Celia  Fienne's  book,  "  Through 
England  on  a  Side-saddle  in  the  Time  of  William 
and  Mary":  "Thence  to  Poole,  a  little  seaport  town 
4  miles  off  where  a  very  good  minister  in  ye  publick 
Church  Mr.  Hardy.  From  thence  we  went  by 
boat  to  a  little  Isle  called  brownsea  3  or  4  leagues 
off  where  there  is  much  Copperice  made,  the  stones 
being  found  about  ye  Isle  in  ye  shore  in  great 
quantetyes,  there  is  only  one  house  there  wch  is 
the  Governour's ;  besides  little  fisherman's  houses 
they  being  all  taken  up  about  ye  Copperice 
works." 

The  next  owner,  Mr.  William  Benson  ("  auditor 
of  the  imprest")  bought  the  Island  for  the  ridiculous 
sum  of  ^300.  He  at  once  started  to  rebuild  the 
Castle  as  a  house  for  himself,  much  to  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  people  of  Poole,  who  declared  that  the 
Castle  was  Crown  property  and  a  means  of  defence 
for  the  coast,  and  Poole  in  particular.  Benson 


152         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

replied  that  he  had  bought  the  Island  and  every- 
thing on  it,  the  Castle  being  naturally  included. 
The  Mayor  of  Poole  appealed  to  George  II.,  but 
the  matter  was  finally  dropped  for  some  reason  which 
remains  a  mystery.  The  fascination  and  beauty 
of  Brownsea  appealed  to  Benson,  and  he  did  a 
great  deal  for  the  Island  in  every  way.  He 
restored  the  Castle  and  built  the  great  hall  (now 
the  music-room),  and  started  cultivating  the  land, 
lavishly  planting  it  with  trees  of  every  kind. 
Perhaps  it  is  to  him  and  Mr.  Humphrey  Sturt 
that  the  Island  owes  some  of  its  Palms  and  Orange 
and  Lemon  trees,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  slopes 
covered  with  Rhododendrons,  Juniper,  Scotch  Firs, 
Cedars,  Corsican  Pines,  and  many  kinds  of  ever- 
green and  deciduous  trees. 

Sir  Gerard  Napier  and  Mr.  Humphrey  Sturt, 
who  were  later  joint  owners  of  Brownsea,  beautified 
the  place  in  every  way,  especially  Mr.  Humphrey 
Sturt  who,  when  it  became  entirely  his  property, 
spent  both  time  and  money  (^"50,000)  upon  doing 
everything  in  his  power  to  improve  it.  It  was  he 
who  began  the  Garden  close  to  the  house,  and 
planted  hundreds  of  beautiful  trees,  realising  early 
the  truth  of  John  Evelyn's  words,  "  Men  seldom 
plant  trees  till  they  begin  to  be  wise,  that  is  till 
they  grow  old,  and  find  by  Experience  the  Prudence 
and  Necessity  of  it."  Mr.  Humphrey  Sturt's  son, 
Charles,  inherited  Brownsea,  and  was  so  passionately 


BROWNSEA  ISLAND  153 

attached  to  the  Island  that  he  made  it  his  home, 
and  spent  his  life  improving  the  grounds.  In  1818 
the  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards  George  IV.) — so 
celebrated  for  his  fashion  in  clothes,  and  his 
manners,  which  gained  for  him  the  nickname  of 
"  the  First  Gentleman  in  Europe  " — paid  Brownsea 
a  visit,  and  candidly  acknowledged  "that  he  had 
no  idea  there  was  such  a  delightful  spot  in  the 
kingdom" — the  balls  and  routs  of  London  being 
doubtless  better  known  to  him  than  English 
scenery. 

Colonel  Waugh  was  attracted  to  Brownsea  chiefly 
because  of  the  clay  to  be  found  there  which  he 
desired  to  use  for  a  Pottery.  He  bought  the 
Island  in  1852,  and  spent  a  great  deal  of  money 
on  promoting  this  industry  at  the  west  end  of  the 
Island,  building  cottages,  which  still  exist,  though 
the  Pottery  works  have  long  been  given  up.  One 
of  the  most  important  of  Colonel  Waugh's  improve- 
ments at  Brownsea  was  the  reclaiming  of  a  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  the  building  of  an  embankment 
and  sea-walls  round  it. 

The  many  beautiful  Italian  works  of  art  which 
are  in  the  house  were  brought  there  by  Mr. 
Cavendish  Bentinck  when  he  owned  Brownsea. 

During  Major  Kenneth  Balfour's  possession  of 
the  Island  the  house  was  burnt  and  the  interior 
entirely  ruined.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1897  and  came 
into  Mr.  Charles  Van  Raalte's  hands  in  1900,  since 


154         A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

when  he  has  never  ceased  to  improve,  beautify,  and 
add  interest  to  it  in  every  way. 

Truly  an  Island  of  enchantment,  the  glamour  of 
its  beauty  carries  the  beholder,  in  memory,  not  to 
one  but  many  a  lovely  spot.  For  near  the  front  of 
the  house,  looking  through  the  Ilex  trees  on  a 
sunny  day,  the  white  towers  of  the  pier-house  and 
the  long  stone  steps  leading  down  to  the  clear, 
green  water,  appear  like  a  little  glimpse  of  the 
Riviera.  Then  looking  towards  Corfe  Castle, 
standing  rugged  and  grand  across  a  stretch  of 
water,  which  suggests  a  still,  dark  Scotch  loch, 
with  Heather  growing  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
between  the  Firs  can  be  seen  the  Heather- 
covered  islets  and  far-away  hills  fading  into  a 
blue  mist. 

To  be  in  Holland  it  is  only  necessary  to  visit 
what  is  called  the  Marsh,  with  its  windmill  (used  for 
pumping  the  water)  and  long,  low  sand  dunes, 
stretching  away  into  the  distance.  Even  Venice, 
that  peeress  of  cities,  is  often  suggested  when 
looking  across  the  harbour  towards  Poole,  which 
lies  very  low,  the  wooden  posts  which  mark  the 
sand-banks  rising  out  of  the  water,  and  making  long, 
green  shadows  on  the  still,  opalescent  surface. 


COTTAGE   GARDENS 


'  Well  may'st  thou  halt,  and  gaze  with  brightening  eye ! 
The  lovely  Cottage  in  the  guardian  nook 
Hath  stirred  thee  deeply;  with  its  own  dear  brook, 
Its  own  small  pasture,  almost  its  own  sky ! 
But  covet  not  the  Abode ;  forbear  to  sigh. 
As  many  do,  repining  while  they  look; 
Intruders — who  would  tear  from  Nature's  book 
This  precious  leaf  with  harsh  impiety. 
Think  what  the  home  must  be  if  it  were  thine, 
Even  thine,  though  few  thy  wants  !     Roof,  window,  door, 
The  very  flowers  are  sacred  to  the  Poor, 
The  Roses  to  the  porch  which  they  entwine ; 
Yea,  all  that  now  enchants  thee,  from  the  day 
On  which  it  should  be  touched,  would  melt,  and  melt  away.' 

W.  WORDSWORTH 


VIII 

COTTAGE  GARDENS 

FLOWERS  woven  together  with  love  make 
the  garland  of  the  poets,  especially  of  the 
English  poets — for  the  people  of  England  adore 
flowers  more  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world. 

The  poet  who  wrote  of  the  beauty  of  the  stately 
homes  of  England  was  praising,  no  doubt,  what 
most  appealed  to  her ;  while  her  choice  of  the 
obviously  beautiful  for  the  subject  of  her  poem 
suggests  the  Gardens  already  described  in  these 
notes,  yet  it  leaves  unsung  all  the  beauties  belong- 
ing to  the  Cottage  homes  of  England. 

The  passion  for  flowers  and  the  love  of  colour 
which  is  born  of  their  beauty  is  to  be  seen  more 
than  anywhere  else  in  Cottage  Gardens.  Many  a 
green  English  lane  is  adorned  with  gorgeous  spots 
of  colour,  the  little  Gardens  of  these  flower-lovers. 

Dame  Nature  has  given  the  most  beautiful  lesson 
in  love  in  these  "Gardens  trim,"  belonging  to  the 
poor;  for  clever,  gentle,  loving  tending  of  the 


157 


158        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISEt  GARDENS 

flowers  is  repaid  with  much  finer  results  in  these 
tiny  plots  than  in  the  great  Gardens  cared  for  by 
the  best  of  paid  Gardeners  and  planted  with  seeds 
and  cuttings  of  the  most  expensive  kinds.  People 
often  wonder  what  magic  power  causes  the  lovely 
blossoms  to  bloom  so  profusely  when  crowded  in 
the  small  corner  of  ground  belonging  to  a  work- 
man's Cottage,  the  same  flowers  proving  very 
ordinary  under  a  trained  Gardener's  care.  Love 
is  the  magic  power,  which  the  flowers,  with  that 
exquisite  generosity  for  which  they  are  renowned, 
repay  a  thousandfold,  by  blooming  with  a  lavish 
abundance  and  beauty. 

Few  realise  that  flowers  live  and  feel,  and  that 
plucking  a  Rosebud  (if  not  carelessly  thrown  aside) 
is  an  act  of  appreciation,  and  produces  that 
marvellous  prodigality  of  blossoms,  seen  more  in 
Cottage  Gardens  than  elsewhere.  In  large  Gardens 
the  flowers  are  tied  up,  straight,  and  tall,  and  left  as 
decorative  features  in  the  whole  effect,  while  in  tiny 
Gardens  the  pretty  buds  are  tended  with  a  loving 
care  and  grow  unfettered  at  their  own  sweet  will. 

A  Cottage  Garden !  Who  cannot  picture  one  or 
more,  the  memory  of  which  are  linked  with  far-off 
childish  days,  and  the  remembrance  of  the  sweet- 
smelling,  gay-coloured,  old-fashioned  flowers  is 
wafted  across  the  years  with  a  delightful  fragrance  ? 
The  joy  of  having  lived  in  one  dear  little 
village  all  through  childhood's  years  is  a  lifelong 


COTTAGE)  GARDENS  159 

possession.  A  friend  writes  :  "  Oh,  to  be  back  once 
again  in  the  little  old-world  village  in  the  heart  of 
old  England,  to  see  the  dear  old  people  who  petted 
and  spoilt  us  as  children,  and  gave  us  at  any  hour 
an  ever-ready  welcome!  Our  favourite  was  Mrs. 

P ,   the  wife   of  the   village   carpenter,   whose 

little  plot  we  so  often  raided,  neither  Hall  nor 
Vicarage  Garden  holding  Gooseberries  such  as  hers. 
At  the  top  of  the  little  flagged  pathway,  under  a 
trellis  of  Vine  and  Honeysuckle  we  would  see  our 
beaming  hostess  standing,  her  little  red,  apple- 
cheeked  face,  framed  in  a  snowy,  frilled  cap,  over 
which  she  wore  a  wide-brimmed,  black  mushroom 
hat.  She  was  never  seen  without  that  hat,  indoors 
or  out  of  doors ;  it  was  as  well  known  to  every 
one  as  the  peacock,  bravely  cut  out  of  the  Yew 
hedge,  at  the  little  wicket-gate,  beside  the  bushes 
of  Lad's-love  and  Lavender. 

"  The  owner  of  the  small  village  shop  was  another 
favourite ;  she  possessed  a  Cottage  and  Garden  quite 

near   Mrs.    P 's,  but  how  different !     Tea  with 

Hannah  was  a  keen  delight,  her  parlour  ornaments 
consisting  of  a  castellated  cottage,  cows,  stags, 
dogs — in  fact,  a  perfect  farmyard  was  fingered  by 
us  with  the  pleasure  that  children  always  have  in 
other  people's  possessions  when  unlike  their  own. 
Among  these  wonders  was  a  doll  quite  a  hundred 
years  old,  with  which  we  were  never  tired  of 
playing. 


160        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

"  Hannah  looked  upon  her  flowers  as  children, 
always  alluding  to  them  as  'her'  or  'him,'  and  she 
insisted  on  our  calling  upon  them  in  turn,  and 
recounted  to  us  their  histories,  how  long  she  had 
had  them,  where  they  came  from,  and  with  whom 
she  had  divided  them  (the  poor  are  so  generous 
with  their  flower  treasures,  unlike  the  rich ;  with  the 
former  it  is  certainly  a  case  of  'what  I  gave  I  have'). 
Before  we  said  goodbye  to  Hannah  in  the  little 
red-tiled  kitchen,  the  sunlight,  streaming  in  between 
the  Geraniums  and  French  Lavender  which  filled 
the  lattice  window,  making  pretty  patterns  on  the 
floor,  she  presented  us  each  with  a  posy  of  flowers, 
varying  in  size  according  to  our  ages.  They  were 
stiff,  like  altar  bouquets  in  shape,  built  up  on  a 
background  of  stiff  Box  and  Lad's-love,  and  made 
of  Carnations  and  Lavender  and  a  plentiful  supply 
of  Monthly  Roses,  Honeysuckle,  scented  Geraniums, 
Snapdragon,  and  a  white  'paper  flower,'  as  we 
called  it,  never  discovering  its  real  name. 

"  There  was  another  Garden  which  was  a  great 
joy  to  us  children — though  rather  a  fearful  joy, 
owing  to  its  somehow  filling  us  with  a  sense  of  awe  ; 
it  belonged  to  Mrs.  B ,  the  village  school- 
mistress, and  was  prim,  like  herself — a  type  that  has 
long  since  passed  away  from  English  village  life. 
She  taught  us  needlework,  and  seldom  now  do  you 
see  such  'stitchery.'  People  in  the  twentieth 
century  have  not  time  to  do  work  like  hers. 


COTTAGE  GARDENS  161 

"Her  Cottage  possessed  great  and  rare  treasures, 
in  an  arched  porch  of  beautiful  clipped  Yew,  and 
a  hedge  of  mixed  Yew  and  Box,  both  planted  by 
her  husband,  the  village  sexton.  They  were  much 
prouder  of  the  Yew  hedge  and  porch  than  of  any  of 
the  flowers  which  grew  in  the  small  Garden,  for 
Yew  recalled  happy  memories  to  them  both ;  the 
Garden  of  her  old  home  had  been  full  of  such 
hedges,  and  the  first  words  of  her  'courting'  had 
been  spoken,  she  told  us,  beneath  the  arch  of 
a  Yew  porch,  and  the  tree  had  been  beloved  by 
them  both  ever  since.  The  first  green  thing  planted 
beside  their  new  home,  it  became  part  of  their  lives, 
for  they  had  tended  and  watched  its  growth  for 
years.  She  has  gone  to  rest  now ;  and  no  one  was 
surprised  when  the  old  man  planted  a  Yew  tree 
on  her  grave  and  clipped  it  into  the  shape  of  a 
cross." 

To  define  a  Cottage  Garden  is  difficult,  especially 
now  that  the  present-day  craze  for  spending  week- 
ends in  the  country  has  resulted  in  many  an  old 
Cottage  and  Garden  passing  out  of  the  villagers' 
hands  into  the  possession  of  a  very  different  class, 
to  be  adapted,  changed,  and  added  to  by  their  new 
owners  ;  the  one  thing  remaining  unchanged  being 
their  name.  There  may  be  little  in  a  name — "a 
Rose  by  any  other  name  "  may  smell  as  sweet,  but 
it  takes  more  than  the  name  to  make  a  Cottage 
Garden.  Some  ingenious  person  defined  a  Cottage 


162        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

Garden  as  one  that  "the  hireling  knave"  had  no 
part  in.  But  this  brings  under  the  name  many  that 
have  no  right  to  it.  Many  suburban  Gardens  are 
worked  in  the  most  praiseworthy  manner,  entirely 
by  their  owners,  yet  no  one  would  dream  of  calling 
them  Cottage  Gardens. 

It  may  appear  a  dogmatic  statement,  but  ex- 
perience seems  to  show  that  a  true  Cottage  Garden 
can  only  be  created  by  a  villager.  Of  course  they 
have  been  imitated,  but  in  the  imitation  a  strange 
under-current  of  educated  taste  peeps  out  that  spoils 
in  the  copy  the  character  of  the  original ;  much  of 
the  charm  of  which  lies  in  the  simple  combination 
of  flowers  and  vegetables  that  only  a  cottager  can 
produce. 

There  is  always  an  exception  to  every  rule,  and 
the  friend  who  writes  so  lovingly  of  the  village  of 
her  childhood  mentions  the  Garden  which  stands 
out  in  her  memory.  "  Of  all  the  Gardens  long 
ago,  that  which  perhaps  has  the  greatest  hold  on 
my  imagination  is  one  which  belonged  to  a  dear 
old  French  lady  who,  nurse  declared,  was  very  well 
born,  and  had  seen  better  days,  and  who  took 
a  quaint  cottage  in  our  village.  The  little  building 
was  thatched,  and  but  for  a  Vine  growing  over  its 
whitewashed  walls,  the  Garden  was  represented  by 
a  perfect  wilderness  of  weeds,  a  storehouse  of  mis- 
cellaneous rubbish  so  apt  to  be  attracted  by  any 


COTTAGE   GARDENS  163 

piece  of  waste  land  in  a  village.  With  the  rude 
curiosity  of  children  we  watched  her  arrival  from 
a  point  of  vantage.  She  had  few  belongings,  and 
the  odd  hamper  or  two  of  old  roots  and  cuttings  did 
not  foretell  future  Garden  beauties  to  our  childish 
eyes.  But  as  if  by  magic,  before  a  year  had  passed, 
the  Garden,  under  her  care,  became  a  mass  of 
blossoms.  And  in  time  over  the  porch  grew  a 
sweet-smelling  white  Clematis,  while  on  the  cottage 
walls  climbed  Gloire  de  Dijon  and  Monthly  Roses ; 
and  in  summer  a  long  row  of  white  Madonna  Lilies 
showed  their  heads  above  the  white  palings  like 
a  procession  of  beautiful  white  saints.  Striped 
Carnations — which  for  size,  scent,  and  shape  could 
seldom  be  equalled,  if  ever  surpassed — scented  the 
Garden.  Everything  the  old  lady  touched  grew, 
apparently  not  by  rule  but  by  love.  She  planted 
like  her  neighbours,  only  with  greater  success,  and 
only  where  it  excelled  the  others  could  her  garden 
be  distinguished  from  a  villager's.  In  Spring  her 
bulbs  were  always  in  bloom,  and  the  Garden  was 
gay  with  Daffodils,  Jonquils,  Scillas,  Grape  Hya- 
cinths, Wallflower,  and  '  Polly-urns,'  as  we  used  to 
call  them. 

"  Memory  still  brings  back  the  delicious  scent  of 
her  Garden.  The  perfume  was  wafted  across  the 
little  field  lying  between  it  and  the  church,  where 
we  sat  on  Sunday  evenings,  all  the  doors  wide  open 
during  the  hot,  sultry  summer  weather.  It  was  the 


164        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

only  lady's  Garden  in  my  experience  which  was  at 
the  same  time  a  true  Cottage  Garden  possessing  all 
the  little  touches  and  arrangements  peculiar  to 
one." 

The  absence  of  the  intimate  knowledge  of  one 
village  and  the  delight  of  watching  the  little  well- 
known  plots  of  ground  changing  their  dark  Winter 
dress  for  the  fresh  beauty  of  Spring,  and  later  to  the 
full  glory  of  Summer,  is  to  a  certain  extent  com- 
pensated for  by  the  interest  of  a  wider  if  less 
intimate  acquaintance  with  many  a  village,  and  the 
different  ways  of  doing  things  in  various  counties. 

Truly  there  is  no  race  in  the  world  in  which  so 
many  flower-lovers  are  to  be  found  as  among  the 
English.  England  is  just  a  large  Garden,  made 
up  of  a  number  of  smaller  ones,  with  a  fringe  of 
little  Cottage  Gardens. 

Travellers  abroad  know  that  the  little  oases  of 
colour  and  green  are  not  to  be  found  attached  to 
each  tiny  homestead  as  in  England.  Here  even 
the  hideous  railway  line  which  has  cut  through 
many  a  glorious  park  is  not  without  its  brightening 
touch  of  flowers,  grown  often  by  the  stationmaster, 
in  a  rich  profusion  which  proclaims  a  born  Gardener. 

So  deeply  rooted  in  the  English  race  is  this  love 
of  flowers,  that  wherever  an  English  man  or  woman 
goes,  be  it  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth, 
among  the  most  adverse  conditions,  a  Garden  is 
made.  For  instance,  from  Africa  comes  the  follow- 


COTTAGE  GARDENS  165 

ing  example  of  perseverance  in  Garden-making : 
"A  man  fond  of  Gardening  and  a  good  Garden 
started  one  last  Spring.  It  did  well  till  one  day 
the  locusts  swarmed  over  it  and  the  Garden  was 
devoured.  Nothing  daunted,  the  man  started  again, 
and  the  Garden  soon  looked  well,  and  with  pride 
he  cut  his  first  Cucumber.  Then  hail  fell  for  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  and  there  was  no  Garden  left ! 
Undaunted,  again  he  started  and  again  everything 
flourished,  when  tremendously  heavy  rain  fell  (really 
a  sort  of  waterspout)  and  caused  a  flood — and  the 
Garden  left  for  Delagoa  Bay  !  All  he  has  in  that 
Garden  now  is  a  crop  of  mealies,  which  are  not  his, 
for  they  were  washed  down  by  the  same  flood  from 
a  Garden  higher  up ! 

"  But  he  will  never  own  himself  defeated,  and  is 
making  another  Garden." 

Such  men  are  the  Garden-makers  of  the  world, 
and  would  succeed  at  any  cost.  The  beautiful  idea 
of  planting,  in  toil  and  trouble,  for  others'  gain  is  so 
often  to  be  seen  in  the  Gardens  of  the  East.  Trees, 
flowers,  and  vegetables  are  all  planted,  tended,  and 
cared  for  by  some  man  who  will  never  reap  the 
benefit,  but  leaves  his  work  as  a  legacy  from  one 
unknown  Englishman  to  another. 

Cottage  Gardens  have  some  special  features  in 
every  county.  Down  in  Worcestershire  there  is 
hardly  one,  even  the  very  smallest,  that  has  not 
a  little  orchard  of  Apple  trees,  laden  with  snowy 


166        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

blossoms  in  Spring  and  rosy  fruit  in  Autumn,  giving 
to  the  small  Gardens  an  additional  beauty. 

Then  in  Cornwall  and  Devonshire,  where  the 
climate  is  mild,  bushes  of  Myrtle  and  Tamarisk, 
besides  Hydrangea,  grow  by  the  side  of  the  cottage 
door,  in  quite  an  everyday  manner. 

The  Hop  is  the  hallmark  of  the  little  Kentish 
Garden  plots.  One  Garden  to  be  seen  down  there 
stands  out  from  among  many  in  the  exceeding 
beauty  and  abundance  of  its  flowers.  Even  in  its 
surrounding  walls,  old  and  grey,  nestle  Houseleeks 
and  Stonecrops.  Flags,  Foxgloves,  Primroses, 
Leopard's  Bane,  clumps  of  Forget-me-not,  mixing 
their  delightful  blue  with  the  rich  brown  of  the 
Wallflowers,  all  and  every  kind  of  flower  in  turn 
blossoms  gaily.  From  the  first  of  Spring  flowers — 
that  "  pleasant  plant "  the  Crocus — to  the  last  flower 
of  Autumn,  all  blooms  appear  at  their  best,  almost 
tumbling  over  each  other  in  their  lavish  growth. 
The  only  attempt  at  order  in  this  tiny  Garden,  with, 
its  marvellous  wealth  of  flowers,  is  the  edging  of 
Thrift. 

"This  is  an  everlasting  greene  herbe,"  says 
Parkinson,  "  which  many  take  to  border  their 
beds,  and  set  their  knots  and  trayles,  and  therein 
much  delight  because  it  will  grow  thick  and 
bushie,  and  may  be  kept,  being  cut  with  a  pair 
of  Garden  sheeres,  in  some  good  handsome 
manner  and  proportion  for  a  time  and  besides 


COTTAGE   GARDENS  167 

in  the  summer  time  send  forth  many  short  stalks 
of  pleasant  flowers,  to  decke  up  an  house  among 
other  sweete  herbes." 

Bordering  the  little  path  up  to  the  porch 
(covered  with  Hops)  are  standard  Rose  bushes, 
rising  from  beds  of  "pretty  Fancy,"  or  Heartsease, 
the  flower  so  beloved  that  it  has  been  named 
again  and  again.  Many  of  these  names  are 
curious,  such  as  "  Pink  of  my  John,"  "  Love  in 
Idleness,"  "Three  faces  under  one  hood,"  "Herb 
Trinity,"  "  Cuddle  me  to  you,"  "  Paunce  or 
Pensee,"  and  "  Flame  Flower." 

The  great  desire  in  a  Cottage  Garden  always 
seems  to  be  to  cover  the  earth  with  some  kind  of 
living  thing.  Among  the  little  groups  of  Rasp- 
berry canes  the  ground  was  closely  planted  with 
vegetables,  among  which  some  enormous  Primroses 
had  seeded  themselves.  They  were  pointed  out 
with  pride,  and  strangely  enough  alluded  to  in  the 
expressive  language  of  Mr.  Pepys  as  "mighty 
pretty." 

This  tiny  Garden  looks  for  all  the  world  as  if 
here  many  of  the  "Good  Pointes  in  Husbandrie," 
by  Tusser — that  man  of  sense  and  humour — had 
been  carried  out.  As  he  sings  : — 

"  In  March  and  April  from  morning  till  night, 
In  sowing  and  setting,  good  housewife's  delight, 
To  have  in  a  Garden  or  other  like  plot 
To  turn  up  their  house,  and  furnish  their  pot." 


168        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

And  again : — 

"At  Spring  (for  the  Summer)  sewe  Garden  ye  shall 
At  harvest  (for  Winter)  or  sowe  not  at  all 
Oft  digging  and  remooving  and  weeding  (ye  see) 
Makes  herbe  the  more  holesome  and  greater  to  be." 

The  Cottage  Garden  pictured  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  belongs  to  an  old  lady 
who  has  lived  there  for  forty  years,  doing  all  the 
village  washing,  and  bringing  up  a  large  family  on 
the  money  thus  earned.  The  Fuchsia  tree,  growing 
as  high  as  the  bedroom  windows,  was  planted  by 
her  when  she  first  came  to  the  cottage ;  and  the 
Japanese  Honeysuckle  is  also  stricken  in  years, 
though  its  appearance  is  young  and  sprightly.  It 
is  a  strange  little  Garden,  and  the  well  is  most 
quaint,  quite  an  uncommon  type,  being  only  about 
three  feet  deep  and  having  a  large  stone  with  a 
hole  cut  in  the  middle  for  a  curb. 

Many  lovely  flowers  and  plants  have  first  been 
grown  in  cottages,  or  their  Gardens.  For  instance, 
the  Fuchsia,  that  graceful  plant,  with  its  delicate 
little  hanging  flowers,  was  first  reared  in  England,  in 
a  cottage.  Not,  however,  in  fresh  country  air,  but 
in  a  little  house  at  Wapping,  and  the  following 
story  is  told  of  its  discovery :  Old  Mr.  Lee,  the 
well-known  nursery  gardener,  happened  to  be  in 
Wapping  one  day,  and  seeing  in  a  cottage  window 
"an  elegant  plant  with  flowers  hanging  in  rows 


A    COTTAGE    GARDEN,   THE    ISLE    OF    WIGHT 


COTTAGE  GARDENS  169 

like  tassels  from  pendant  branches,  their  colour 
the  richest  crimson  in  the  centre,  with  a  fold  of 
deep  purple,"  he  eagerly  went  in  and  asked  the 
owner,  an  old  woman,  where  she  got  her  original 
plant.  She  told  him  that  her  husband  was  a 
sailor  and  had  brought  it  to  her  from  the  West 
Indies,  and  that  nothing  would  induce  her  to  part 
with  it.  After  much  persuasion,  Mr.  Lee  managed 
to  buy  the  little  pot  of  Fuchsia  for  ^"8  8s.,  and  he 
promised  the  old  woman  that  the  first  new  plant 
reared  should  be  hers.  He  kept  his  promise  and 
sent  her  the  first  successful  plant,  reaping  a  little 
fortune  from  the  original,  making  from  it  in  one 
year  alone  over  ^300.  This  took  place  about 
1825,  and  is  considered  by  many  the  first  introduc- 
tion of  Fuchsia  into  England.  But  this  statement 
is  not  strictly  accurate,  though  it  was  the  first  time 
it  came  to  stay.  In  1703  a  monk,  Father  Plumier, 
discovered  it,  or  rather  described  it  in  his  writings 
and  named  it  Fuchs,  after  Leonhard  Fuchs,  one  of 
the  founders  of  German  botany. 

In  some  villages  the  people  seem  to  vie  with 
each  other  over  their  Gardens,  many  cultivating 
a  special  flower.  This  charming  fancy  is  to  be 
seen  at  its  best  in  an  old-world  village  in  one  of 
the  southern  counties  ;  the  prettiest  of  these 
Gardens  being  perhaps  the  one  whose  special 
feature  was  the  Poppy — a  typical,  though  fanciful 
Cottage  Garden.  The  cottage  to  which  it  belonged 


170        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

stood  looking  across  a  strip  of  Garden,  with  its 
gable  end  to  the  road,  described  in  old  deeds  as 
"  the  King's  Highway."  A  narrow,  raised  brick 
path,  almost  like  a  terrace,  ran  from  the  little 
white  gate  along  the  front  of  the  cottage  round  to 
the  back,  where  it  lost  itself  in  a  little  patch  of 
cobble-stones. 

In  the  time  of  the  Poppies  this  Garden  is  a 
brilliant  sight,  filled  with  Poppies  ranging  in 
colour  from  the  palest  pink  to  the  deepest  blood- 
red,  from  cream  to  flaring  yellow.  They  grow 
all  together  in  clumps,  with  the  old  red  brick 
wall  of  the  terrace-like  path  behind  them,  a  most 
fitting  background.  The  Poppy  is  a  flower  which 
must  always  attract  attention  by  its  immense 
decorative  value  ;  either  singly,  among  the  corn,  or 
grouped  in  masses,  it  may  always  be  counted  on  to 
produce  a  most  glorious  effect.  For  the  gorgeous- 
ness  of  their  beauty  they  pay,  alas!  with  a 
delicacy  of  petal,  giving  them  but  a  fleeting  exist- 
ence. The  only  other  flowers  allowed  to  show 
their  heads  among  the  Poppies  are  great  bushes 
of  Lavender,  Ribbon  Grass,  Rosemary,  and  Rue. 

Part  of  the  ground  beside  this  cottage  is 
described  in  old  papers  as  "  the  ballad  Singer's 
Plot " — a  title  which  is  a  reminder  of  other  times, 
when  wandering  minstrels  went  round  the  country 
singing  their  songs  and  carrying  the  news  of  those 
days  to  the  little  country  villages,  which  otherwise 


COTTAGE   GARDENS  171 

often  remained  strangely  ignorant  of  the  doings  of 
the  outside  world. 

Near  the  gate  of  this  Garden  there  are  manifest 
signs  of  the  age  of  the  village,  for  by  the  roadside 
are  a  pair  of  stocks,  twisted,  crooked,  crumbling 
away  with  age  and  exposure,  and  half-buried  in 
the  grass.  It  is  not  known  when  stocks  were  first 
introduced  into  England,  but  "  the  Commons 
prayed  Edward  III.  that  they  should  be  set  up  in 
every  village."  The  last  time  they  were  made 
use  of  was  at  Rugby,  in  1858.  Their  usual  position 
in  a  village  was  close  to  the  churchyard. 

Hardly  a  cottage  in  this  village,  even  the 
smallest,  is  without  extraordinarily  large  cellars, 
almost  like  miniature  dungeons — pointing  clearly 
to  the  existence  of  extensive  smuggling  in  olden 
days.  Within  sound  of  the  sea,  this  village  was 
one  of  the  centres  of  illicit  trade,  and  old  people 
tell  of  many  a  skirmish  with  the  soldiers,  and 
point  to  the  spot  where  the  last  man  was  killed 
in  a  smuggling  fray. 

The  love  of  flowers,  "  the  cottager's  treasurer," 
as  Ruskin  calls  them,  is  not  a  love  of  years, 
but  of  centuries.  Even  before  Tudor  days  the 
peasant  planted  flowers  by  his  cottage  door,  and 
the  old  Vines,  still  to  be  found  near  many  old 
cottages,  tell  the  same  tale  of  devotion. 

In  Gardens,  such  as  have  been  described,  the 
following  flowers  are  frequently  found  and  easily 


172        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

grown :  Crocuses,  Double  Daffodils,  Snowdrops, 
Christmas  Roses,  Wallflowers,  Forget-me-nots, 
Primroses,  Grape  Hyacinths,  White  Arabis, 
Violets,  Flags,  Snakes'  Heads,  Solomon's  Seal, 
Stonecups,  Columbines,  Thrift,  Tulips,  Foxgloves, 
Woodruff,  Leopard's  Bane,  Peonies,  Polyanthus, 
Hose  in  Hose,  Monthly  Roses,  Hollyhocks, 
Lilies,  Monkshood,  Borage,  Phlox,  Evening 
Primroses,  Sunflowers,  Snapdragons,  Candy-tuft, 
Periwinkles,  Heartsease,  Lavender,  Rue,  Rosemary, 
Lad's-love,  Love-in-a-puzzle,  Love-lies-bleeding, 
Marigolds,  Poppies,  Honesty,  Honeysuckle,  Fuch- 
sias, Cornflowers,  Everlasting  Peas,  Sweet  Peas, 
Valerian,  Rochet,  Carnations,  Pinks,  Sweet  Sultan, 
Canterbury  Bells,  Ribbon  Grass,  Michaelmas 
Daisies,  Everlasting  Flower,  Jacob's  Ladder, 
China  Asters,  Double  Dahlias,  and  Stocks. 

For  the  edging  of  borders,  where  plants  are 
preferred  to  "leade,  boards,  bones  or  tyles," 
Thrift,  Box,  Daisies,  and  London  Pride  are  the 
most  easily  grown  and  need  least  attention. 

All  Gardens  need  much  care  and  tending,  and 
one  of  the  chief  charms  of  a  Cottage  Garden 
grows  out  of  the  loving  care  of  its  owner — its 
cultivation  is  a  labour  of  love,  and  repays  its 
possessor  a  thousandfold. 

However  tiny  a  Garden  may  be  it  needs 
endless  time  spent  upon  it,  and  the  old  saying 
"one  year's  seeding,  seven  years'  weeding,"  is 


COTTAGE   GARDENS  173 

only  too  true.  People  often  think  that  cottagers 
never  weed,  but  this  is  a  great  mistake.  Weeds 
are  looked  upon  by  them  as  great  evils.  Their 
views  on  weeds  are,  in  fact,  very  similar  to  Bocca- 
cio's,  who  writes  very  plainly  on  the  subject : 
"  Let  the  painfull  gardiner  expresse  never  so 
much  care  and  diligent  endeavour ;  yet  among 
the  very  fairest,  sweetest,  and  freshest  Flowers, 
as  also  Plants  of  the  most  precious  virtue  ill 
savouring  and  stinking  weeds,  fit  for  no  use  but 
the  fire  or  mucke-hill,  will  spring  and  sprout  up." 

This  patient  labour  of  the  man  who  so  often 
starts  to  work  in  his  Garden  at  the  end  of  a  hard 
day's  toil,  produces  in  the  onlooker  a  feeling  of 
the  deepest  admiration  and  amazement — till  Gray's 
words  to  his  friend  are  remembered :  "So  you 
have  a  Garden  of  your  own,  and  you  plant  and 
transplant  and  are  dirty  and  amused" 

It  is  this  passion  for  Gardening,  which  is  planted 
in  the  hearts  of  rich  and  poor  alike,  that  has  been 
one  of  the  chief  joys  of  the  world — a  pleasure 
born  of  the  love  of  beauty  and  the  delight  in  even 
"  a  slip  of  ground  for  a  Cabbage  and  a  Gooseberry 
bush,"  and  "  to  sit  under  my  own  Vine  and 
contemplate  the  growth  of  vegetable  nature.  I 
now  understand  in  what  sense  they  speak  of 
Father  Adam.  I  recognise  the  paternity,  while 
I  watch  my  Tulips." 

"  I  should  like  to  influence  the  whole  world  with 


174        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

my  taste  for  Gardens,"  cried  the  Prince  de  Ligne. 
"It  seems  to  me  impossible  for  an  evildoer  to 
share  it.  Fathers,  instil  into  your  children  the 


garden-mania." 


HAM    HOUSE,    SURREY 


"  Then  will  we  turn 

To  where  the  silver  Thames  first  rural  grows, 
There  let  the  feasted  eye  unwearied  stray; 
Luxurious,  there,  rove  through  the  pendent  woods 
That  nodding  hang  o'er  Harrington's  retreat 
And,  stooping  thence  to  Ham's  embowering  walks." 

THOMSON'S  Seasons 


IX 

HAM    HOUSE,    SURREY 

T  F  ever  Garden  was  planned  with  reference 
•*•  to  the  house  it  encircles  it  is  the  Garden 
belonging  to  Ham. 

The  House  stands  in  the  midst  of  Garden  within 
Garden.  Green  Lawns,  dark  Fir  trees,  and  Terraces 
rich  with  gay  flowers  are  its  varied  surroundings; 
while  long,  straight  avenues — 

"  Like  footmen  running  before  coaches 
To  tell  the  Inn  what  Lord  approaches ! " 

lead  up  to  the  House,  their  entrance  being  guarded 
by  fine  old  iron  gates. 

Tradition  says  of  one  gate  that  it  has  never  been 
opened  since  the  day  on  which  a  Stuart  king  passed 
out.  Alas !  this  pretty  legend  is  untrue,  but  it  is  as 
difficult  now  as  in  Walpole's  day  to  gain  an 
entrance — if  the  right  way  is  unknown — for  the 

N  177 


178        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

gates  opposite  "the  sweetest  river  in  the  world" 
are  seldom  opened. 

Behind  the  charm  of  this  old  Garden  lies  much 
romance,  and  no  figure  stands  out  more  strongly 
in  the  history  of  Ham  than  that  of  the  great 
Duchess,  whom  Bishop  Burnett  describes  thus 
graphically  :  "  She  was  a  woman  of  great  beauty, 
but  far  greater  parts ;  she  had  a  wonderful  quickness 
and  an  amazing  vivacity  in  conversation ;  she  had 
studied  not  only  divinity,  history,  but  mathematics 
and  philosophy.  She  was  violent  in  everything, 
a  violent  friend  and  a  much  more  violent  enemy." 
To  such  a  degree  has  the  Duchess  impressed 
herself  on  the  old  place,  that  it  is  almost  a 
temptation  to  write  her  history,  instead  of  that 
of  the  quaint  old  Garden.  Described  by  one  who 
had  seen  it  just  as  it  was  left  by  the  Duchess  : 
"  The  very  flowers  are  old-fashioned,  none  but 
flowers  of  the  oldest  time,  gay,  formal  knots  of 
Pinks  and  Sweet  Peas  and  Larkspur  and  Lilies  and 
Hollyhocks,  mixed  with  solid  Cabbage  Roses  and 
round  Dutch  Honeysuckle." 

Some  mention,  however,  must  be  made  of  the 
history  of  Ham  House  and  its  Gardens  before 
the  time  of  this  extraordinarily  clever  woman  (for 
may  she  not  lay  claim  to  this  title,  when  more 
than  one  historian  admits  she  was  the  mistress  of 
the  austere  Oliver  Cromwell  ?). 

The  Gardens  and   Walks  lie  within  the  parish 


HAM  HOUSE  179 

of  Petersham,  but  the  land  on  which  the  House 
stands  has  generally  gone  with  the  Manor  of  Ham, 
an  old  Saxon  word  meaning  "house." 

It  appears  that  this  Manor  (of  Ham)  belonged 
for  many  years  to  the  Crown,  till  Henry  II. 
granted  it  to  his  favourite,  Maurice  de  Creoun. 
Anne  of  Cleves  was  the  next  person  of  interest 
who  possessed  the  Manor  of  Ham.  Divorced  by 
Henry  VI II.,  barely  six  months  after  her  marriage, 
he  granted  her  "divers  manors  and  estates,  amongst 
which  was  this  Manor  of  Ham,"  the  latter  being 
kept  by  her  till  the  second  year  of  Edward  VI.'s 
reign. 

Coveted,  perhaps  on  account  of  its  delightful 
situation,  many  people  desired  to  possess  the  estate, 
but  it  remained  Crown  property  for  many  years. 
At  length,  however,  King  James  granted  it  to 
his  son  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  on  his  death 
it  was  held  in  trust  for  his  brother  Charles,  during 
which  time  Ham  House  was  erected.  It  is  a  very 
interesting  specimen  of  Jacobean  architecture,  and 
was  built  by  Sir  Thomas  Vavasor,  and  appears  to 
have  been  finished  in  1610,  that  date  being  carved 
over  the  principal  doorway.  How  Sir  Thomas 
Vavasor  became  possessed  of  this  property  has 
not  been  ascertained,  but  it  did  not  remain  his 
property  long,  though  with  him  lies  the  honour 
of  building  the  original  House.  Ostensibly  simple 
in  treatment,  it  has  one  particularly  happy  feature 


180        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

of  great  decorative  value  in  a  row  of  oval  niches 
above  the  ground-floor  windows  on  the  river 
front,  filled  with  lead  and  stone  busts. 

The  Murray  family  were  the  next  owners  of 
Ham,  becoming  possessed  of  it  in  a  strange  fashion. 
Thomas  Murray  was  tutor  to  Henry,  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  King  James  borrowed  money  from 
him  (being  always  sorely  in  need  of  it),  and  in 
return  made  Murray  Provost  of  Eton,  he  being 
the  only  layman  who  has  ever  held  the  post. 
Through  Thomas  Murray  his  nephew,  William 
Murray,  was  made  "whipping  boy"  to  Prince 
Charles — an  undignified  post  much  sought  after, 
leading,  as  it  often  did  in  later  years,  to  the 
highest  honours  and  distinctions,  as  in  Murray's 
case. 

Charles  I.  never  forgot  his  "whipping  boy," 
making  him,  soon  after  he  became  King,  a  Gentle- 
man of  the  Bedchamber.  Bishop  Burnett,  if  he 
is  to  be  trusted,  makes  William  Murray  appear 
far  from  a  desirable  character  ;  in  fact,  the  pungent 
pen  of  the  writer  of  the  history  of  his  own  times 
has  no  good  to  tell  of  the  Murray  family.  He 
writes :  "  Murray  of  the  bedchamber  had  been 
page  and  whipping  boy  to  Charles  I.,  and  had 
great  credit  with  him,  not  only  in  procuring  private 
favours,  but  in  all  counsels.  Well  tuned  for  Court, 
very  insinuating,  but  very  false  and  very  revenge- 
ful. Generally  believed  that  he  discovered  most 


HAM  HOUSE  181 

important    of    his    (the     King's)    secrets    to    his 
enemies." 

However  false  Murray  may  have  been,  the  King 
evidently  had  no  knowledge  of  his  treachery,  for 
he  granted  him  the  Manor  of  Ham  and  Petersham, 
and  created  him  "Peer  of  Scotland,  Baron  Hunting- 
tower  and  Earl  of  Dysart,"  Murray  persuading  the 
King  to  antedate  the  warrant  that  he  might  take 
precedence  at  Court  of  many  whom,  from  one 
cause  and  another,  he  cordially  detested.  That 
he  was  seldom  called  by  his  title  is  perhaps 
accounted  for  by  Burnett's  remark  that  the  warrant 
did  not  pass  the  Great  Seal  during  the  King's 
lifetime. 

William  Murray  married  Catherine  Bruce,  by 
whom  he  had  no  son,  but  five  daughters.  Elizabeth, 
the  eldest,  afterwards  became  the  great  Duchess, 
who  left  the  impress  of  her  personality  so  strongly 
on  Ham  House  and  its  Gardens.  The  date  of 
her  marriage  with  Sir  Lionel  Tollemache,  heir 
to  the  Helmingham  estates  in  Suffolk,  is  unknown, 
but  he  succeeded  his  father  in  1640.  Elizabeth 
Murray  did  not  hesitate,  on  her  father's  death,  to 
style  herself  Countess  of  Dysart,  and  being  more 
than  a  friend  of  Cromwell's,  her  estates  were  safe 
under  his  rule,  especially  as  she  pretended  to  be- 
come an  anti- Royalist  and  allowed  his  soldiers  to  be 
quartered  in  Ham  House.  Burnett  declares  that 
this  clever  woman,  to  whom  political  intrigue  was 


182        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

second  nature,  was  in  correspondence  with  John 
Maitland,  Earl  of  Lauderdale,  after  he  had  been 
made  prisoner  at  the  Battle  of  Worcester,  and 
made  him  believe  that  his  life  was  in  danger  and 
only  saved  by  her  efforts,  made  successful  through 
Cromwell's  devotion  to  her.  The  result  of  this 
fatal  Battle  of  Worcester  is  pithily  described  in 
Carlyle's  "  Life  of  Oliver  Cromwell  "  :  "At  Wor- 
cester, the  while,  thousands  of  Prisoners  are  getting 
ranked,  '  penned-up  in  the  Cathedral,'  with  sad 
out-looks :  carcasses  of  horses,  corpses  of  men, 
frightful  to  sense  and  mind,  encumber  the  streets 
of  Worcester;  '  we  are  plucking  Lords,  Knights,  and 
Gentlemen  from  their  lurking-holes,'  into  the  un- 
welcome light.  Lords  very  numerous ;  a  Peerage 
sore  slashed.  The  Duke  of  Hamilton  has  got  his 
thigh  broken  ;  the  Earl  of  Derby,  also  wounded, 
is  caught,  and  tried  for  Treason  against  the  State ; 
lays  down  his  head  at  Bolton,  where  he  had  once 
carried  it  too  high.  Lauderdale  and  others  are  put 
in  the  Tower;  have  to  lie  there,  in  heavy  dormancy, 
for  long  years.  The  Earls  of  Cleveland  and 
Lauderdale  came  to  Town  together,  about  a  fortnight 
hence.  '  As  they  passed  along  Cornhill  in  their 
coaches  with  a  guard  of  horse,  the  Earl  of  Lauder- 
dale's  coach  made  a  stand  near  the  Conduit :  where 
a  Carman  gave  his  Lordship  a  visit,  saying,  "  Oh, 
my  Lord,  you  are  welcome  to  London  !  I  protest, 
off  goes  your  head,  as  round  as  a  hoop !  "  But 


HAM  HOUSE  183 

his  Lordship  passed  off  the  fatal  compliment  only 
with  a  laughter,  and  so  fared  along  to  the  Tower.' 
His  Lordship's  big  red  head,  has  yet  other  work 
to  do  in  this  world.  Having,  at  the  Ever-blessed 
Restoration,  managed,  not  without  difficulty,  'to 
get  a  new  suit  of  clothes,'  he  knelt  before  his  now 
triumphant  Sacred  Majesty  on  that  glorious  Thirtieth 
of  May."' 

Upon  Charles  II.'s  restoration,  Lady  Dysart  did 
not  consider  that  Lauderdale  was  sufficiently  grate- 
ful for  her  share  in  saving  his  life,  and  they  were 
estranged  for  some  years ;  she  turning  her  atten- 
tion to  other  matters,  one  being  the  acquiring  of  a 
new  patent  from  the  King  creating  her  Countess  of 
Dysart  and  Baroness  Huntingtower  in  her  own  right. 

But  Lauderdale,  the  cleverest  and  most  un- 
scrupulous of  all  the  Merry  Monarch's  ministers, 
was  destined  to  link  his  life  sooner  or  later  with 
Lady  Dysart,  and  after  her  husband's  death  they 
made  up  their  quarrel  and  lived  so  openly  together 
that  his  wife,  Lady  Lauderdale,  retired  to  Paris, 
and  after  her  death,  which  took  place  there,  Lord 
Lauderdale  married  Lady  Dysart,  who,  though 
she  may  have  had  undue  influence  over  him,  and 
often  separated  him  from  his  friends,  certainly 
worked  loyally  in  his  interest.  It  was  owing  to 
her  that  Charles  gave  him  a  dukedom,  which  title 
lapsed  (as  they  had  no  children),  the  Dysart  titles 
passing  into  the  Tollemache  family. 


184        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

Ham  House  and  its  Gardens  are  beholden  for 
many  beauties  to  this  brilliant  woman.  Sir  John 
Reresby,  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  alludes  to  her  thus  : 
"  I  went  to  visit  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Lauder- 
dale  at  their  fine  house  at  Ham.  After  dinner  the 
Duchess  in  her  chamber  entertained  me  with 
long  discourse  on  matters  of  State.  She  had  been 
a  beautiful  woman  and  the  supposed  mistress  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  was  even  then  a  woman 
of  great  parts."  The  Garden  owes  her  much  if 
she  did  for  it  what  she  undoubtedly  did  for  the 
House. 

The  Duke  held  an  important  position  in  the 
Government,  being  one  of  the  corrupt  ministry 
called  the  "  Cabal  " — a  nickname  originated  by  the 
first  letter  of  their  names  spelling  the  word,  causing 
it  ever  afterwards  to  have  an  odious  significance. 
Through  his  position  presents  of  the  richest  kind 
were  showered  upon  him  and  the  Duchess,  and  in 
all  probability  the  Gardens  were  as  richly  favoured 
as  the  House. 

Certainly  it  would  seem  so  from  Evelyn's 
account :  "  After  dinner  I  walked  to  Ham  to  see 
the  house  and  Garden  of  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale, 
which  is,  indeed,  inferior  to  few  of  the  best  villas 
in  Italy  itself;  the  house  furnished  like  a  great 
Prince's ;  the  Parterres,  Flower  Gardens,  Orangeries, 
Groves,  Avenues,  Courts,  Statues,  Perspectives, 
Fountains,  Aviaries,  and  all  this  at  the  bank  of 


HAM   HOUSE  185 

the  sweetest  river  in  the  world,  must  needs  be 
admirable." 

This  shows  that  the  Gardens  of  Ham  possessed 
every  whimsical  device  of  that  period — a  time 
which  carried  its  taste  for  Garden  cult  to  a  fine 
art. 

The  design  of  these  Gardens  at  Ham  is  interest- 
ing from  many  points  of  view,  but  chiefly  as  illus- 
trating that  form  of  Garden,  the  plan  of  which 
resembles  a  house,  room  within  room,  as  they 
were  built  in  Elizabeth's  days,  distinctly  suggest- 
ing, in  some  ways,  the  Roman  type  of  Gardens, 
which  "  were  only  the  amplification  of  the 
House." 

There  is  a  feeling  of  completeness  gained  by 
carrying  the  design  of  the  house  into  that  of  the 
Garden,  making  them  entirely  belong  to  each 
other.  Besides  which,  this  room-like  arrangement 
of  a  Garden  provides  the  charm  of  perpetual  change, 
the  Garden  never  being  seen  as  a  whole,  but  only 
as  it  were  room  by  room,  the  hedges  taking  the 
place  of  the  walls. 

This  idea  of  a  Garden  within  a  Garden  is  seldom 
if  ever  used  now.  Fine  open  spaces  with  long, 
wide  Flower-borders  are  preferred,  being  better 
adapted  to  show  to  advantage  the  modern  develop- 
ment of  flowers  and  the  genius  which  the  twentieth- 
century  Gardener  possesses  of  growing  tropical 
plants  in  this  changeable  climate. 


186        A   BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  Terrace  and  small  Garden  at  Ham  are  said 
to  have  been  designed  by  John  Rose,  the  celebrated 
pupil  of  the  great  French  Master  Le  Notre. 

Rose,  who  was  chiefly  a  horticulturist,  was 
successively  gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  the 
Duchess  of  Cleveland  and  Somerset,  and  ended  by 
being  Royal  Gardener  at  Hampton  Court.  This 
small  Garden  is  a  mass  of  little  Flower-beds,  shaded 
by  some  very  old  Cedars  and  a  beautiful  Tulip  tree, 
which  must  have  been  one  of  the  first  grown  in 
England,  as  these  trees  were  only  brought  over 
from  America  in  1688.  The  cultivation  of  Pine- 
apples is  always  associated  with  Rose's  name,  and 
though  they  were  not  properly  understood  till  much 
later  he  managed  to  grow  the  first  English 
Pineapple  (which  he  presented  to  Charles  II.),  his 
portrait  appearing  in  the  Pineapple  picture  at  Ham. 
John  Rose  is  also  remembered  as  author  of  "  The 
English  Vineyard  "  which  appeared  at  the  end  of 
"  Evelyn's  French  Gardens." 

The  Orangery  at  Ham — mentioned  by  Evelyn — 
was  probably  arranged  by  Rose,  who  was  more 
interested  in  fruit-growing  than  in  Gardening.  It  is 
often  thought  Evelyn's  allusion  to  "  Orangeries " 
can  only  mean  an  Orange  plantation,  and  that 
Ham  cannot  claim  to  have  had  one  of  the  earliest 
Orange-houses  (in  those  days  merely  large  rooms 
with  a  fireplace  and  big  windows).  The  first 
Orange-house  with  a  glass  roof  is  supposed  to  have 


THE    ORAXGERY,   HAM    HOUSE 


HAM  HOUSE  187 

been  built  at  Woolaton  in  1696.  At  the  foot  of 
the  stone  steps  of  the  gravel  Terrace,  at  the  west 
side  of  the  Garden  the  old  Orangery  at  Ham  is 
found,  placed  at  the  end  of  a  walled  Garden, 
chiefly  grass,  planted  with  Apple  trees.  Down  the 
middle  is  a  wide  grass  path  flanked  on  each  side 
by  borders  containing  a  gay  selection  of  well- 
grouped  herbaceous  plants.  The  Orangery  faces 
down  the  grass  path  (as  shown  in  the  water-colour 
drawing),  at  the  bottom  of  which  runs  a  most 
delightful  Avenue  of  Ilex  trees — the  most  beautiful, 
perhaps,  of  all  the  evergreens. 

In  the  midst  of  this  Ilex  Avenue  is  a  statue  of 
Bacchus.  Like  the  busts  round  the  house  (in  1679 
there  were  thirty-eight  of  lead  and  six  made  of 
marble),  this  little  statue  is  made  of  lead — the 
favourite  material  for  Garden  Statuary,  as  it  acquires 
such  a  beautiful  colour  when  unpainted — which 
these,  alas!  are  not. 

Ham  House  stands  low  near  the  banks  of  the 
Thames,  opposite  the  village  of  Twickenham,  so 
loved  by  Pope,  Gay,  and  Prior,  also  Horace  Walpole. 
Round  it  lie  beautiful  grassy  meadows,  which, 
according  to  Walpole,  always  attracted  showers  of 
rain  when  mown.  "  I  remember,"  he  writes, 
"  Lady  Suffolk  telling  me,  that  Lord  Dysart's 
great  meadows  (at  Ham)  have  never  been  mown 
but  once  in  forty  years  without  rain.  I  said,  '  All 
that  that  proved  was,  that  rain  was  good  for  hay,' 


188        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

as  I  am  persuaded  the  climate  of  a  country  and  its 
productions  are  suited  to  each  other." 

The  meadow  by  the  river  front  is  separated  from 
the  Avenue  by  a  sunk  wall,  or  Ha- Ha,  showing 
that  at  one  time  or  another  some  ideas  of  the 
Landscape  school  found  their  way  into  this  Garden. 
Walpole  always  claims  this  as  the  first  move  to- 
wards the  new  school  of  Gardening  ;  he  says  :  "  The 
leading  step  to  all  that  has  followed  was  (I  believe 
the  first  thought  was  Bridgeman's)  the  destruction 
of  walls  for  boundaries,  and  the  invention  of  fosses 
— an  attempt  then  deemed  so  astonishing  that  the 
common  people  called  them  Ha !  Has !  to  express 
their  surprise  at  finding  a  sudden  and  unexpected 
check  to  their  walk."  Neither  Bridgemann  or  Kent 
really  invented  the  Ha- Ha ;  it  was  thought  of  and 
invented  long  before  by  French  Garden  designers. 
The  great  Gates  lead  into  the  Forecourt,  which  still 
possesses  an  old  circular  stone-flagged  drive,  and 
is  enclosed  at  the  sides  by  brick  walls.  An  unique 
appearance  is  given  to  them  by  a  row  of  niches 
containing  lead  busts,  similar  to  those  above  the 
ground-floor  windows  on  the  north  side  of  the  House. 

It  is  amusing  to  know  that  an  enterprising  but 
dishonest  person  once  attempted  to  remove  these 
busts  from  the  walls,  but  not  having  calculated  on 
the  weight  of  the  material  hidden  under  the  disguise 
of  paint,  was  compelled  to  drop  them — and  the  busts 
were  afterwards  replaced  in  their  respective  niches. 


STATUE    OF    FATHER    THAMES    IN    THE    FORE    COURT, 
HAM    HOUSE 


HAM  HOUSE  189 

By  these  walls,  coloured  so  exquisitely  by  time,  are 
planted  clipped  Bay  trees. 

Immediately  facing  the  chief  entrance  is  a  wide 
Terrace  paved  with  stone,  and  edged  with  ever- 
greens ;  it  is  reached  by  two  flights  of  well-pro- 
portioned steps,  which  lead  into  the  arcading  on 
either  side  of  the  doorway. 

A  colossal  statue  of  Father  Thames  in  stone 
coloured  terra-cotta  stands  facing  the  river  in  the 
centre  of  the  grass  Lawn,  in  the  middle  of  the 
Forecourt.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  statue,  but  on 
a  small  shield  are  to  be  found  the  arms  of  the  City 
of  London.  Still  in  existence  is  "an  old  book,  tall 
and  narrow,  bound  in  calf  skin,  which  contains  a 
minute  inventory  of  everything  inside  and  outside 
of  the  house,"  bearing  witness  to  the  Duchess  of 
Lauderdale  having  been  as  good  a  chatelaine  as 
she  was  an  intriguant  in  politics. 

The  river  front  in  this  book  is  called  "the  Fore- 
court and  Cloisters " — certainly  a  prettier  name. 
The  old  wooden  seats  (mentioned  in  this  exhaustive 
list)  are  still  to  be  seen  to-day — the  "  Longe  Benche 
of  Deale  painted,  which  is  in  the  melancholy  walk." 

On  the  south  side  of  the  House  runs  a  long  gravel 
Terrace  530  feet  long  and  238  feet  wide,  with  shallow 
flights  of  steps  at  either  end  leading  to  a  gravel 
path  that  encircles  the  splendid  Bowling  Green,  or 
Great  Lawn,  as  it  is  now  usually  called,  which 
covers  nearly  two  and  a  half  acres. 


190        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

An  interesting  old  oil  painting  exists  in  the  House 
at  Ham,  which,  to  judge  from  the  dress  of  the 
people  appearing  in  it,  must  date  from  about  the 
time  of  Queen  Anne.  It  shows  the  Garden  at  the 
south  side  much  as  it  is  now,  only  with  a  wall  on 
both  sides  of  the  House,  and  opposite  it  a  grass  path 
with  Statues,  cut  evergreens  in  boxes,  and  cut  Yew 
hedges,  but  of  course,  without  the  long  Herbaceous 
Border  which  was  added  when  such  borders 
came  in  again  within  the  last  few  years.  It  is 
from  the  east  side  that  the  water-colour  drawing 
is  taken  showing  this  Herbaceous  Border,  with 
the  beautiful  old  red-brick  House  forming  a 
most  perfect  background  to  the  flowers  ;  the 
border  runs  close  beside  the  Terrace  wall  and  is 
filled  with  a  mass  of  Lavender,  Iris,  Delphiniums, 
Pinks,  Lilies  (Liteum  candidum)  Roses,  Monks- 
hood,  Hollyhocks,  Larkspur,  Spirsea,  Phlox, 
Canterbury  Bells — all  blended  delightfully  as  to 
colour — and  having  an  edge  of  Thrift  and  white 
Pinks  with  an  outer  border  of  grass. 

The  old  brick  walls  here  are  allowed  the  added 
beauty  of  creepers — and  many  plants  find  a  home 
in  the  nooks  and  crannies — for  no  ruthless  hands 
plucks  the  pretty  pink  flowering  Valerian  out  of  the 
low  Terrace  walls.  One  of  the  best  and  most 
artistic  of  modern  Gardeners  declares  that  this 
fancy  for  creepers  and  plants  on  old  walls,  is  a 
matter  to  be  carefully  considered ;  when  an  ugly, 


THE  TERRACE  BORDER,  HAM  HOUSE 


HAM  HOUSE  191 

ill-proportioned  wall  is  hidden,  well  and  good, 
but  often  the  trailing  creeper  hides  an  exquisite 
piece  of  architecture.  In  which  case  the  taste  is 
decidedly  at  fault,  and  the  admirer  of  the  flower 
is  forgetful  of  the  beautiful  work  it  hides,  and 
which  in  time  it  will  seriously  damage. 

Beyond  the  old  Bowling  Green,  which  has  a 
little  Shrubbery  on  one  side,  lies  the  Wilderness, 
filled  with  trees,  shrubs,  and  Rhododendrons,  as 
well  as  beautiful  Scotch  Fir  trees,  the  first  ever 
grown  in  England.  These  were  planted  by  John, 
Duke  of  Argyll,  the  well-known  general  and 
statesman,  grandson  of  the  Duchess  of  Lauder- 
dale.  This  Duke  of  Argyll  had  a  passion  for 
Gardening,  and  laid  out  many  Gardens  for  his 
friends,  and  at  Ham,  his  birthplace,  he  left  a 
living  example  of  his  taste,  viz.,  these  Firs,  which 
can  be  seen  from  every  point  of  view. 

With  Ham  it  is  the  same  as  with  many  old 
Gardens,  their  written  history  is  but  what  gossips 
of  each  fleeting  day  thought  fit  to  record.  The 
owners  loved  their  Gardens  for  their  beauty, 
but  did  not  think  of  making  notes  of  their  form 
and  design,  or  of  the  planting  of  a  new  seed,  or 
any  such  matters ;  they  simply  left  the  Garden 
to  speak  for  itself.  Among  the  chance  records 
of  Ham  and  its  Gardens  is  an  allusion  by 
Evelyn  in  his  scholarly  Diary  to  "the  Orangeries," 
and  "the  Aviary,"  while  in  1678  Defoe,  in  his 


192        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

"  Tour  through  Great  Britain,"  mentions  "  Ham 
and  Petersham,  little  villages,  the  first  famous  for 
a  pleasant  palace  of  the  late  Duke  of  Lauderdale, 
close  by  the  river,  possessed  by  the  late  Earl  of 
Dysart,  a  house,  King  Charles  II.  used  to  be 
frequently  at,  and  was  exceedingly  pleased  with 
the  avenues  of  this  fine  house."  Then  Horace 
Walpole,  that  mainstay  of  lovers  of  gossip,  has 
much  to  say  about  his  niece's  secret  marriage,  in 
1760,  with  Lord  Dysart's  son.  He  writes:  "I 
announce  my  Lady  Huntingtower  to  you.  I  hope 
you  will  approve  the  match  a  little  more  than 
I  suppose  my  Lord  Dysart  will,  as  he  does  not 
yet  know,  though  they  have  been  married  these 
two  hours,  that  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning,  his 
son  espoused  my  niece,  Charlotte,  at  St.  James' 
Church.  The  moment  my  Lord  Dysart  is  dead 
I  will  carry  you  to  see  Ham  House ;  it  is  pleasant 
to  call  cousins,  with  a  charming  prospect  over 
against  one." 

He  gives  a  long  description  of  Ham,  and 
biassed  as  all  his  remarks  and  judgments  are, 
they  are  too  valuable  to  omit,  as  they  throw 
such  side-lights  on  every  nook  and  corner.  "  I 
went  yesterday  to  see  my  niece  in  her  new 
principality  of  Ham.  It  delighted  me  and  made 
me  peevish."  "Close  to  the  Thames,  in  the  centre 
of  a  rich  and  verdant  beauty,  it  is  so  blocked  up  and 
barricaded  with  walls,  vast  trees,  and  gates,  that 


HAM  HOUSE  193 

you  think  yourself  an  hundred  miles  off  and  an 
hundred  years  back.  The  old  furniture  is  so 
magnificently  ancient,  dreary  and  decayed,  that  at 
every  step  one's  spirits  sink,  and  all  my  passion 
for  antiquity  could  not  keep  them  up.  Every 
minute  I  expected  to  see  ghosts  sweeping  by ; 
ghosts  I  would  not  give  sixpence  to  see — Lauder- 
dales,  Tollemaches,  and  Maitlands.  ...  In  this 
state  of  pomp  and  tatters  my  nephew  intends 
it  shall  remain  ;  and  is  so  religious  an  observer 
of  the  venerable  rites  of  his  house,  that  because 
the  gates  never  were  opened  by  his  father  but 
once  for  the  late  Lord  Granville,  you  are  locked 
out  and  locked  in,  and  after  journeying  all  round 
the  house,  as  you  do  round  an  old  French  forti- 
fied town,  you  are  at  last  admitted  through  the 
stable-yard  to  creep  along  a  dark  passage  by 
the  housekeeper's  room,  and  so  by  a  back 
door  into  the  great  hall.  He  seems  as  much 
afraid  of  water  as  a  cat ;  for  though  you  might 
enjoy  the  Thames  from  every  window  of  three 
sides  of  the  house,  you  may  tumble  into  it  before 
you  would  guess  it  was  there." 

To  modern  eyes  the  iron  gates  and  red-brick 
walls  of  Ham  are  beautiful,  with  their  elaborate 
brick  coping,  and  tall  piers  crowned  with  large 
urns  wreathed  and  festooned  with  flowers. 

To  twentieth-century  ideas  "to  feel  an  hundred 
miles  off  and  an  hundred  years  back  "  when  only  a 


194        A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

short  distance  from  London,  is  something  not  easily 
gained  nor  to  be  lightly  forsworn.  But  to  Walpole 
everything  which  shut  out  "  Nature  "  was  an  abhor- 
rence, and  with  his  witty  pen  he  lustily  preached 
the  new  fashion  in  Gardening.  Once  again  very 
sadly  the  old  cynic  mentions  Ham — the  pretty 
niece  is  dying.  "  From  my  own  windows  I  see 
the  tall  avenues  and  chimneys  of  Ham  House, 
where  my  poor  niece  lies  languishing  and  dying." 
How  well  he  describes  the  views  of  Ham  which 
peep  through  the  trees ! 

Much  later,  Miss  Mary  Berry,  the  faithful  friend 
and  champion  of  Horace  Walpole  against  Macaulay's 
fiery  denunciations,  writes  in  her  journal :  "  We  went 
to  Ham  House ;  the  house  and  Gardens  are  in  old 
style;  that  is  to  say,  the  style  of  Charles  II.  I 
was  much  pleased  with  the  house  and  its  situa- 
tion, surrounded  as  it  is  by  large  avenues  of  trees, 
with  its  terraced  Gardens  and  its  great  Bowling 
Green,  and  it  needs  only  to  cut  down  a  few  trees, 
to  enjoy  a  most  smiling  scene,  yet  as  perfectly  quiet 
and  secluded  as  if  the  house  were  placed  in  the 
furthermost  county  from  London." 


HATFIELD    HOUSE,    HERTFORDSHIRE 


1 1  noted  that  from  side  to  side 
The  Garden  was  nigh  broad  as  wide, 
And  every  angle  duly  squared. 
The  careful  planter  had  not  spared 
To  set  of  every  kind  of  tree.  .  .  . 

Moreover,  in  this  Garden  rare 
Grew  many  a  tree  familiar. 

And  all  around  this  pleasant  close 
Holly  and  Laurel  and  Holm  arose, 
With  Yew  and  Hornbeam,  fit,  I  trow, 
For  flitting  shaft,  and  speeding  bow ; 

But  wherefore  should  I  tell  of  more? 

For  wearied  would  your  heart  be  ere 

I  numbered  half  that  flourished  there. 

But  this  I  say,  such  skilful  art 

Had  planned  the  trees,  that  each  apart 

Six  fathoms  stood,  yet  like  a  net 

The  interlacing  branches  met, 

Through  which  no  scorching  rays  could  pass.'' 

The  Romance  of  the  Rose 


X 

HATFIELD    HOUSE,    HERTFORDSHIRE 

T  T  ATFIELD.  like  many  another  beautiful 
Al  English  house,  was  once  a  Bishop's  palace. 
It  lies  in  the  county  of  Hertford,  and  appears  to 
have  received  its  name  from  two  words — "  Heath  " 
and  "  Field,"  meaning  "Cleared  Heath."  In  Anglo- 
Saxon  times  Hatfield  belonged  to  the  Crown,  but 
before  the  Norman  Conquest  King  Edgar  granted 
it  to  the  Abbot  of  Ely,  whose  ownership  is  recorded 
in  the  Doomsday  Book,  where  "  Hatfield  "  figures 
as  "  Hetfelle."  It  was  in  Henry  I.'s  reign  that  "the 
golden  rhetoric"  of  the  Abbot  persuaded  him  to 
make  Ely  into  a  Bishop's  See,  after  which  Hatfield 
became  an  Episcopal  residence,  and  the  Manor  in 
consequence  was  called  Bishop's  Hatfield. 

From  the  earliest  days  the  Abbots  of  Ely  were 
renowned  for  their  Gardens  and  wonderful  Grapes — 
it  being  almost  certain  that  Hatfield  possessed  large 
Vineyards  long  before  the  celebrated  one  planted  by 
Sir  Robert  Cecil — and  this  reputation  the  Bishops 


198        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

of  Ely  were  careful  to  keep  up  ;  having  not  only 
a  Garden,  but  a  Vineyard  also  attached  to  their 
London  house,  "  Ely  Place,  Melbourne."  The 
site  of  this  Vineyard  is  commemorated  in  the  name 
of  the  street  which  now  partly  covers  the  ground — 
viz.,  Vine  Street. 

Allusion  is  often  made  in  old  books  to  the 
glorious  Park  surrounding  Hatfield,  as,  for  instance, 
when,  in  1269,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  forcibly 
entered  it,  and  after  following  the  chase  broke 
into  the  Palace,  and  evidently  enjoyed  the  Bishop's 
cellar  as  well  as  his  game  ! 

Each  successive  Bishop  of  Ely  seems  to  have 
been  more  powerful  and  influential  than  the  last ; 
but  of  them  all  John  Morton  was  the  most  famous, 
and  was  mentioned  in  "  Utopia  "  in  terms  of  the 
highest  praise  by  his  great  pupil,  Sir  Thomas  More. 
Morton's  life  practically  forms  some  chapters  in  the 
history  of  England,  for  he  became  successively 
Bishop  of  Ely,  Chancellor  of  England,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  finally  Cardinal.  Famous  not 
only  for  his  statesmanship,  but  for  his  distinction  in 
every  branch  of  learning,  as  well  as  for  his  liberality 
of  thought,  he  cultivated  every  art,  especially  that 
of  architecture,  rebuilding  Hatfield  in  Edward  IV.'s 
reign  (it  having  been  largely  destroyed  during  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses).  As  his  biographer  says  :  "  He 
bestowed  great  cost  upon  his  house  at  Hatfield," 
part  of  which  is  still  standing  to  bear  evidence  in  no 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  199 

small  measure  to  its  designer's  magnificent  powers 
as  an  architect,  and  to  the  durability  of  the  material 
used  in  those  days,  being  in  this  case  small  red 
bricks  without  stone  copings. 

To  Bishop  Morton  the  arranging  of  the  marriage 
between  Henry  VII.  and  Elizabeth  of  York  is  due, 
and  through  it  the  uniting  of  the  two  factions  of  the 
Red  and  White  Rose,  thus  giving  England  at  last 
the  long-desired  peace.  The  Bishop  is  without 
doubt  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  many 
people  connected  with  this  beautiful  old  place,  and 
Hatfield  will  be  for  ever  associated  with  his  name. 
He  died  in  1500  at  the  great  age  of  ninety.  No 
actual  proof  exists  that  Bishop  Morton  added  to  the 
Gardens  at  Hatfield,  as  he  did  to  the  Palace,  but  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  the  Garden  was  a  glory  of 
flowers  of  the  rarest  kind,  as  in  everything  he  was  in 
advance  of  his  time.  For  with  the  House  of  Tudor 
came  the  first  real  birth  of  Gardens  as  modern  people 
understand  them,  and  in  Henry  VIII.'s  reign  they 
took  a  very  definite  shape  and  design,  and  were  in 
some  cases  of  a  most  elaborate  nature.  His  reign 
might  indeed  almost  be  said  to  have  formed  the 
style  of  the  English  Garden  until  the  ruthless 
so-called  reformation  of  the  Landscape  school, 
which,  like  all  reformations,  went  too  far  and  fell 
in  the  end  into  exactly  the  same  faults  that  it 
started  to  uproot. 

Thirty-eight  years  after  the  death  of  the  Cardinal, 


200        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

on  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  Henry  VIII. 
coveted  the  magnificence  of  Hatfield  ;  but  fearing 
the  anger  of  the  people  should  he  possess  himself  of 
it,  or  give  it  to  one  of  his  favourites  (as  in  many 
instances  he  had  done  before),  he  effected  an 
exchange  with  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  giving  him  lands 
in  Cambridgeshire,  Essex,  and  Norfolk  in  the  place 
of  the  Manor  of  Hatfield,  which  became  a  Royal 
residence  and  entered  upon  a  new  epoch  of  interest. 
Henry  gave  his  new  Palace  to  his  son  Prince 
Edward,  who  received  there  the  news  of  his 
father's  death  in  1547.  Two  years  later  Edward 
granted  Hatfield  to  his  step-sister,  the  Lady  Eliza- 
beth, with  whom  the  beautiful  old  Gardens  (on  the 
west  side  of  the  present  House)  are  for  ever  linked 
in  memory.  Elizabeth's  love  of  the  open  air  and 
of  manly  pursuits,  as  well  as  her  devotion  to  books, 
contributed  to  that  happy  combination  of  physical 
force  and  mental  capacity  which  stood  England  in 
such  good  stead  when  the  country  was  at  its  lowest 
ebb.  Daily  she  must  have  walked  under  the  shade 
of  the  Pleached  Alley,  book  in  hand,  reading  one  of 
her  favourite  authors — Plato,  perchance— for  Roger 
Ascham  never  failed  to  find  his  apt  and  witty  pupil 
in  the  Garden  or  Park  when  the  hour  for  study 
came.  Elizabeth  never  lost  this  craving  for  the 
open  air,  and  many  a  time  an  important  Council 
was  held  under  the  huge  trees  of  some  park,  or 
amid  the  flowers  of  some  beautiful  old  Garden. 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  201 

There  are  few  places  in  England  so  absolutely 
untouched  by  the  spoiling  hand  of  fashion  as  the 
quaint,  fascinating  little  square,  called  the  "  Privy 
Garden,"  or  "Queen's  Garden,"  which  lies  quite 
near  the  Cardinal's  old  Palace.  The  very  rooms 
used  by  the  Princess  Elizabeth  are  said  to  have 
been  in  what  now  remains  of  the  old  House, 
and  she  may  have  looked  down  from  her  window 
on  wet  winter  days,  longing  for  the  weather  to 
allow  her  the  enjoyment  of  her  daily  walk  there, 
and  doubtless  sent  her  maids  to  gather  the  first 
flower  bold  enough  to  brave  windy  March. 

If  Chaucer  be  the  father  of  English  poetry, 
Bacon  is  the  parent  of  the  English  essay ;  'mid  a 
life  filled  to  the  brim  with  stormy  politics,  and  thick 
with  intrigues,  he,  the  great  philosopher,  found  time 
to  write  one  of  the  best  remembered  and  the 
oftenest  quoted  essays  on  Gardens.  The  little 
Privy  Garden  at  Hatfield  is  planted  somewhat  as 
described  in  the  language  of  that  essay,  only  in  a 
simpler  fashion,  not  so  "  prince-like."  Bacon 
declares  "  The  Garden  is  best  to  be  square,  en- 
compassed on  all  the  four  sides  with  a  stately 
arched  hedge."  There  must  also  be  "green," 
4 'because  nothing  is  more  pleasant  to  the  eye  than 
green  grass  kept  finely  shorn" ;  and  fountains,  "for 
they  are  a  great  beauty  and  refreshment "  ;  also, 
"you  are  to  frame  some  of  them  (the  alleys)  like- 
wise for  shelter,  that  when  the  wind  blows  sharp 


202        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

you  may  walk  as  in  a  gallery  ;  and  these  closer 
alleys  must  be  ever  finely  gravelled,  and  no  grass, 
because  of  going  wet." 

The  Pleached  Alley  would  indeed  shut  out  any 
wind,  and  the  gravel  (urged  so  earnestly  by  Bacon 
instead  of  "grass,  because  of  going  wet  ")  has  been 
superseded  by  an  even  drier  substance,  namely, 
asphalt — one  quite  out  of  his  knowledge,  man  of 
science  as  he  was. 

There  is  always  some  old-world  charm  to  be 
found  in  this  little  Garden,  filled  as  it  is  with  the 
many  Garden  delights  belonging  to  the  days  of 
Elizabeth.  Entering  it  from  the  north-west  side, 
passing  down  a  few  steps,  the  Pleached  Alley,  a 
perfect  covered  way  runs  round  the  four  sides  of 
the  Privy  Garden,  formed  of  closely  planted  Lime 
trees,  whose  branches  are  so  wonderfully  inter- 
woven that  they  form  overhead  quite  a  thick  roof 
of  boughs  and  leaves.  Pleached  is  an  old  word 
and  comes  from  a  French  root,  "plesser,"  to  plait ; 
and  the  art  too  is  a  very  old  one,  as  old  as  the 
Romans  and  freely  used  in  their  day.  The  north- 
east corner  of  the  Pleached  Alley  is  closed  up  by  a 
wall,  on  which  is  a  bas-relief  representing  Queen 
Elizabeth  opening  the  first  Royal  Exchange,  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham  presenting  the  keys,  and  Lord 
Burleigh  as  Prime  Minister.  This  relief  was  part 
of  the  pediment  of  the  second  Royal  Exchange, 
built  on  the  site  of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham's,  which 


HATFIELD   HOUSE  203 

was  burnt  in  1666.  The  late  Lord  Salisbury,  into 
whose  possession  it  came,  had  it  placed  here 
recently.  The  stone  is  charred  and  broken  by  the 
heat  of  the  fire.  Like  most  Gardens  of  its  date, 
the  Privy  Garden  is  very  small,  being  only 
250  feet  square  ;  in  the  centre  is  a  wide  plot  of 
grass,  planted  at  equal  distances  with  one  Chestnut 
and  four  Mulberry  trees.  These  latter  are  of  great 
interest,  as  Queen  Elizabeth  is  said  to  have  planted 
them ;  and  if  this  is  the  case  they  are  the  first 
Mulberry  trees  grown  in  England.  Later,  in  1607, 
James  I.  made  a  very  vigorous  attempt  to  establish 
a  silk  manufactory  in  England,  and  to  help  the 
breeding  of  silkworms  Mulberry  trees  were  planted 
by  the  thousand ;  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  each 
county  being  informed  that  any  one  who  wished 
could  buy  the  trees  for  three  farthings  each,  or  at 
the  rate  of  six  shillings  per  hundred.  The  common 
or  Black  Mulberry  was  chosen  as  the  only  one 
considered  hardy  enough  to  stand  the  English 
climate,  but  this  being  of  slow  growth  and  un- 
suitable for  silkworms  the  whole  scheme  fell 
through,  although  James  pursued  his  idea  with 
great  enterprise. 

Among  the  manuscripts  at  Hatfield  is  one  men- 
tioning the  importation  of  Mulberry  trees ;  and  Sir 
Robert  Cecil,  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  King, 
had  five  hundred  planted  at  Hatfield. 

The  wide  grass  plot  in  the  little  Privy  Garden 


204        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

is  divided  from  the  knots  of  flowers  by  a  clipped 
Yew  hedge ;  and  in  the  days  of  the  Princess 
Elizabeth,  as  well  as  in  more  modern  times,  the 
Parterres  were  no  doubt  filled  with  Bachelor's 
Buttons,  Cornflowers,  Daisies,  Iris,  Lavender, 
Peonies,  Periwinkles,  Stocks,  and  Gilliflowers.  In 
the  centre  stands  a  small  Fountain  with  a  basin 
containing  goldfish — a  feature  Bacon  "liked  not." 
North  of  the  Privy  Garden,  with  "its  covert  way," 
entered  by  a  flight  of  steps,  lies  the  sunken  Rosary, 
laid  out  in  a  series  of  half-circles  with  a  round  Pond 
in  the  centre.  This  Rosary  looks  very  quaint, 
placed  as  it  is  on  a  large  grass  Lawn,  planted  with 
splendid  Chestnut  trees,  standing  on  the  west  side 
of  the  great  courtyard  of  the  present  House,  and 
flanked  by  the  old  Palace  on  the  east.  Fancy 
depicts  the  Cardinal  as  having  walked  in  this 
"Garden  of  Perfumes,"  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
sweet  with  the  scent  of  the  Briar  hedges  and  the 
delicate  fragrance  of  the  dusky  red  damask  Roses, 
such  Roses  as  the  folk  long  ago  loved  to  plant  (the 
virtue  of  size  versus  scent  being  left  to  the  nine- 
teenth century  to  discover) — to  say  nothing  of  the 
scented  Marjoram  and  the  wild  Thyme.  Such  herbs 
were  planted  for  the  sake  of  their  blended  perfume. 
The  delight  of  this  Rosary  would  undoubtedly 
appeal  very  strongly  to  the  great  Churchman,  who 
possessed  such  a  keen  eye  for  the  beautiful  in 
everything. 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  205 

Passing  round  to  the  front  of  the  old  Palace 
and  along  the  drive,  a  gateway  is  reached  leading 
down  into  yet  another  Garden — in  early  Summer 
a  perfect  blaze  of  colour.  Against  the  low  brick 
wall  which  separates  the  two  Gardens,  are  Flower- 
beds filled  with  Phloxes,  Delphiniums,  and  every 
variety  of  Herbaceous  plant.  Three  flights  of 
steps  lead  up  to  the  Privy  Garden  above,  and 
from  there  lovely  vistas  of  the  smaller  Garden 
can  be  seen.  A  path  runs  from  the  centre  steps 
down  the  middle  of  the  Garden,  flanked  on  each 
side  by  two  quadrant  shaped  Lawns  surrounded 
by  shrubs  and  flowers.  This  path,  ornamented 
with  a  Sundial,  leads  right  round  past  the  south  end 
of  the  Privy  Garden  into  the  "  Wilderness." 

At  Edward  VI. 's  death  and  by  Queen  Mary's 
command,  Elizabeth  left  Hatfield  to  return  as  a 
prisoner  under  the  care  of  Sir  Thomas  Pope,  the 
founder  of  Trinity  College,  Oxford.  His  genuine 
admiration  for  his  illustrious  charge  made  him  do 
all  in  his  power  to  relax  the  severity  of  the  Queen 
to  her  step-sister,  of  whom  she  was  bitterly  jealous. 
Sir  Thomas  Pope  writes  of  his  future  Queen  in 
glowing  terms  ;  he  says:  "She  is  not  only  gracious, 
but  most  learned,  as  ye  right  well  know." 

Perhaps  these  last  years  of  Mary's  reign,  full  as 
they  were  of  intrigues  and  cruel  religious  persecu- 
tions, were  for  Elizabeth  the  most  peaceful  years  of 
her  life.  She  was  living  in  the  midst  of  a  glorious 


206        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Park  and  Garden,  surroundings  which  she  loved, 
and  in  the  society  of  cultured  and  intellectual  people, 
with  whom  she  could  converse  when  tired  of  reading 
Greek,  "embroidering  in  gold  and  silver,"  or  playing 
on  the  virginal.  The  part  of  "  Sweet  Sister 
Temperance,"  given  to  her  by  King  Edward,  was 
acted  by  her  to  perfection  during  those  last  days  at 
Hatfield.  Elizabeth,  like  Edward  VI.,  first  heard 
of  Her  succession  to  the  Crown  while  at  Hatfield  ; 
and  tradition  points  out  the  very  Oak  under 
which  she  was  sitting  in  the  Park,  when,  among 
others,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  and  Sir  Richard 
Sackville  informed  her  that  she  was  their  Queen  ; 
and  it  was  here  that  she  held  her  first  Privy  Council. 
Whether  Elizabeth  often  returned  to  Hatfield  after 
she  became  Queen  is  very  doubtful,  but  that  she 
did  so  once  on  a  grand  progress  into  Essex  is 
certain.  On  her  ascent  to  the  throne,  however,  her 
glory  ceased  to  shine  on  the  old  place,  though  the 
memory  of  her  presence  ever  abides  there.  As  an 
old  writer  remarks :  "It  will  be  for  ever  famous, 
for  that  it  first  offered  forth  our  most  worthy 
Elizabeth  to  the  Regal  Diademe  and  to  receive 
the  triumphant  cepter  of  the  Realme,  happie  in 
her  Royal  Maiestie,  and  therefore  let  Hautfeyld  be 
ever  famous."  A  new  and  very  different  splendour 
was  shortly  to  burst  over  Hatfield — a  splendour  that 
was  the  comment  of  all.  The  man  who  wrought 
this  change  was  thus  described  by  one  of  his 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  207 

contemporaries :  "  For  his  person  he  was  not 
much  beholding  to  Nature,  though  somewhat  for  his 
face,  which  was  the  best  part  of  his  outside  ;  for  his 
inside  it  may  be  said,  and  without  offence,  that  he 
was  his  Father's  owne  sonne,  and  a  pregnant  presi- 
dent in  all  his  discipline  of  state ;  he  was  a  courtier 
from  his  cradle  ;  and  he  soon  made  shew  what  he 
was  and  would  be."  "He"  was  no  other  than 
Sir  Robert  Cecil,  the  sometime  "  imp "  and  after- 
wards "the  staff"  of  Elizabeth's  declining  years; 
the  proud  owner  of  "Theobalds,"  with  all  its 
fascinating  conceits,  walls  covered  with  Phillyrea, 
a  Maze,  a  Mount,  and  a  jet  d'eau;  all  quaintly 
described  by  Mandelslo  and  Paulus  Hentzner  in 
their  "  Travels."  Theobalds  was  indeed  a  typical 
"  princely  "  Garden  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  and  one 
often  cited  to  show  the  foolishness  of  the  Formal 
style,  especially  by  Horace  Walpole,  in  his  well- 
known  "Essay  on  Gardening." 

Sir  Robert  Cecil  kept  James  of  Scotland  well 
informed  as  to  the  failing  health  of  the  Queen, 
and  made  up  to  the  lesser  star  when  he  saw  the 
great  light  waning — two  facts  which  did  him  no 
injury  in  that  King's  eyes !  The  Scotch  King  left 
Edinburgh  on  April,  1603,  for  his  progress  to  "the 
Land  of  Promise,"  as  he  called  his  new  kingdom. 
Sir  Robert  Cecil  writes  in  one  of  his  letters :  "His 
Majesty  is  now  come  on  his  journey  as  far  as 
Burghley  House  (which  belonged  to  Lord  Burleigh's 


208        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

eldest  son,  afterwards  created  Earl  of  Exeter)  and 
on  Tuesday  is  expected  at  Theobalds."  The 
chief  reason  that  made  King  James  desire  the 
possession  of  Cecil's  house  was  its  nearness  to 
an  immense  expanse  of  land  suitable  for  hunting, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  persuaded 
his  minister  to  make  the  celebrated  exchange 
of  "Hatfield"  for  "Theobalds,"  Hatfield  thus 
becoming,  with  all  its  memories,  the  property  of 
Sir  Robert  Cecil,  the  founder  of  the  great  house. 
Cecil  was  the  youngest  son  of  the  celebrated 
Lord  Burleigh,  whose  taste  in  Gardens  was 
admittedly  the  best  in  his  day. 

It  was  he  who  planned  the  delights  of  Theobalds 
and  the  beauties  of  Burghley,  and  retained  for 
twenty  years  as  his  Gardener,  Gerard,  the  famous 
herbalist,  author  of  "The  Herbal,"  dedicated  to 
Lord  Burghleigh,  and  with  his  help  many  unknown 
flowers  were  introduced  into  English  Gardens. 
For  instance,  Gerard  writes  :  "  The  Red  Lillie  of 
Constantinople  groweth  wilde  in  the  fields  and 
mountains  many  daies  journies  beyonde  Constanti- 
nople, whither  it  is  brought  by  the  poore  peasants 
to  be  solde,  for  the  decking  up  of  Gardens.  From 
thence  it  was  sent  by  Master  Harbran  ambassor 
there  unto  my  honorable  and  good  Lord  and 
Master  the  Lord  Treasurer  of  England  who 
bestowed  them  upon  me  for  my  Garden."  It  was 
not  surprising  under  these  circumstances  that  Lord 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  209 

Burleigh's  son  should  possess  a  Garden  as  well  as 
a  House  which  was  the  envy  of  all.  Sir  Robert 
Cecil  changed  the  site  of  his  new  House  at  Hat- 
field  to  a  more  commanding  position,  eastward  of 
the  old  Palace.  John  Thorpe,  the  architect  of 
Holland  House,  Kensington,  has  often  been  men- 
tioned as  the  designer  of  Hatfield,  and  though 
there  is  nothing  to  prove  this  the  two  houses  bear 
a  strong  resemblance.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
said  on  good  authority  that  Sir  Robert  was  his 
own  architect ;  if  so,  he  should  be  remembered  as 
much  on  account  of  the  beautiful  House  he  designed 
as  for  his  cautious  statesmanship.  Hatfield  is  the 
first  House  said  to  have  been  designed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  landscape  with  which  it  would  be 
surrounded.  Certainly  it  is  most  happily  placed, 
both  sides  of  the  great  House  facing  down  long 
Avenues  of  double  rows  of  trees,  beyond  which  lies 
the  Park  beautifully  wooded,  the  trees  being  princi- 
pally Oak.  Elm,  and  Ash,  while  the  undergrowth 
of  Rhododendrons  makes  the  woods  a  lovely  sight 
in  the  Spring.  Pepys  evidently  thought  that  the 
first  Lord  Salisbury  (Sir  Robert  Cecil  had  been 
created  Earl  of  Salisbury  in  1605)  nad  bestowed 
as  much  care  upon  his  Gardens  as  on  his 
House,  for  he  writes  in  his  celebrated  Diary,  1661  : 
"July  22nd  I  came  to  Hatfield  before  12  o'clock, 
where  I  had  a  very  good  dinner  with  my  hostess  at 
my  Lord  Salisbury's  inn  and  after  dinner  though 


210        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

weary  I  walked  all  alone  to  the  Vineyard,  which  is 
now  a  very  beautiful  place  again,  and  coming  back 
I  met  with  Mr.  Looker,  my  Lord's  Gardener  (a 
friend  of  Mr.  Eglin's)  who  showed  me  the  House, 
the  Chapell  with  brave  pictures,  and  above  all  the 
Gardens,  such  as  I  never  saw  in  all  my  life  ;  nor  so 
good  flowers,  nor  so  great  Gooseberrys  as  big  as 
nutmegs." 

Lord  Salisbury  was  fortunate  in  not  only  in- 
heriting a  taste  for  Gardening  but  in  possessing 
two  very  celebrated  Gardeners ;  the  first  was 
Montague  Jennings,  the  second,  even  better  known, 
was  John  Tradescent  (one  of  a  famous  family  of 
Gardeners),  whose  father  was  Gardener  to  Queen 
Elizabeth ;  the  son  John  succeeding  him  in  the 
post  in  the  latter  years  of  her  reign,  and  at  her 
death  passing  into  the  service  of  Lord  Salisbury, 
becoming  finally  Gardener  to  Charles  I.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  John  Tradescent,  the  son 
of  John,  founded  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at 
Oxford.  With  such  guidance,  as  well  as  his  own 
knowledge,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Lord  Salisbury 
created  a  Garden  at  Hatfield  almost  perfect  of  its 
kind.  The  Gardens  on  the  east  side  of  the  House 
and  those  on  the  south  front  both  date  from  this 
period.  On  coming  up  the  far-famed  Elm  Avenue, 
with  its  double  rows  of  trees  on  each  side,  and 
crossing  the  great  courtyard  on  the  north  front  of 
the  House,  an  entrance  leads  on  to  the  Terrace, 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  211 

the  open-work  stone  wall  of  which  has  on  the  inner 
side  a  low,  primly  cut  hedge  ;  from  this  Terrace 
the  Gardens  are  reached  by  a  wide  flight  of  steps 
which  project  like  a  bridge  across  the  path  below. 
In  a  line  with  the  flight  of  steps  is  a  broad  gravel 
walk ;  on  each  side  six  Yew  trees  are  planted  in 
the  green  turf,  out  of  which  the  Parterres  are  cut. 
The  Flower-garden,  with  its  elaborately  designed 
geometrical  Parterres  are  now,  as  in  Cecil's  time, 
worked  into  the  initials  B  and  S.  From  old 
designs  it  appears  that  these  upper  Gardens  were 
never  completed,  and  even  what  remains  of  them 
is  not  as  originally  planned,  when  they  possessed 
beautiful  fountains  and  were  to  have  had  others 
even  more  elaborate,  but  they,  like  "  the  water- 
works "  in  the  Vineyard,  were  never  finished  owing 
to  Cecil's  death.  Lying  somewhat  lower  than  this 
Garden,  and  entered  by  steps  cut  in  the  grass  slope, 
is  a  beautiful  Bowling  Green — a  feature  without 
which  no  Garden  of  that  period  was  complete. 
Then,  sunk  again  at  the  foot  of  another  grass 
bank,  is  the  Maze,  with  its  windings  and  intricate 
turnings  planned  in  squares,  the  top  of  its  hedges 
being  on  a  level  with  the  Bowling  Green,  thus 
recalling  the  remark  of  William  Lawson  in  his 
"  New  Orchard  and  Garden" : — "  Mazes  well  framed 
a  man's  height  may  perhaps  make  your  friend 
wander  in  gathering  of  berries,  till  he  cannot  re- 
cover himselfe  without  your  helpe." 


212        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Beyond  the  Maze  is  a  Pergola,  and  parallel  with 
it  is  another  little  Sunk  Garden,  very  charmingly 
planned ;  it  is  oblong  in  shape,  enclosed  by  a 
hedge  on  three  sides  ;  the  east  side  being  shaped 
in  the  middle  into  a  semicircle,  with  very  pleasing 
effect. 

A  small  plantation  of  trees,  intersected  with 
paths,  slopes  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  then 
comes  the  Park,  with  its  Bracken  Fern  and  magnifi- 
cent trees.  On  all  sides,  except  on  the  north  where 
the  great  courtyard  stands,  Hatfield  House  is  sur- 
rounded by  Gardens,  and  one  of  these  remains  to 
be  mentioned.  Laid  out  immediately  in  front  of 
the  smaller  courtyard,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
House,  it  is  on  a  level  with  the  Terrace,  and  can 
be  approached  from  almost  any  side.  The  green 
foliage  of  a  noticeably  handsome  row  of  Orange 
trees  (planted  in  boxes)  contrasts  most  pleasantly 
with  the  pierced  stone  arcading  of  the  House. 

The  Garden  is  enclosed  by  the  same  pierced 
stone  balustrade  as  that  found  on  the  east  side. 
Here,  as  in  many  other  places,  this  balustrade  is 
covered  with  Ivy  and  creepers,  having  Pavilions  at 
the  four  corners.  A  wide  path  encircles  the 
Garden,  while  a  still  wider  one  runs  from  the 
courtyard  down  the  centre  till  it  reaches  the  Park 
which  it  overlooks,  being  on  a  line  with  a  magnifi- 
cent Avenue,  consisting  again  of  double  rows  of 
trees,  and  similar  to  the  one  leading  to  the  court- 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  213 

yard  on  the  north  front  of  the  House.  On  each 
side  of  the  central  path  lie  large  grass  Lawns  (edged 
with  stone)  in  which  are  cut  Beds  also  with  stone 
edging.  Well-designed  stone  Fountains  are  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  central  Bed,  and  stone  Vases 
stand  at  some  of  the  corners  of  the  grass  Lawns, 
very  typical  of  the  Elizabethan  Flower-garden. 

The  Parks  were  enclosed  especially  for  "  red  and 
fallow  deer '  by  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  and  in  one  of 
them  he  planted  the  Vineyard,  about  half  a  mile 
away  from  the  House,  and  even  in  his  day,  as  well  as 
afterwards,  thought  "  surpassing  rare."  John  Evelyn 
mentions  it  in  his  Diary  in  1643:  "March  n.  I 
went  to  see  my  Lord  of  Salisbury's  Palace  at  Hat- 
field,  where  the  most  considerable  rarity  besides 
the  House  (inferior  to  few  then  in  England  for  its 
architecture)  was  the  Garden  and  Vineyard  rarely 
well  watered  and  planted." 

To  reach  the  Dell,  as  it  was  often  called 
in  the  old  days,  it  is  necessary  to  take  a 
beautiful  walk  down  the  great  Elm  Avenue  and 
through  many  smaller  ones  (for  the  Park  is  a 
perfect  network  of  leafy  lanes),  and  on  amid  the 
Bracken  and  undergrowth  till  "  the  rarity "  is 
reached.  It  is  enclosed  on  three  sides  with  a 
castellated  brick  wall,  the  entrance  being  through 
a  Garden  House,  which  is  apparently  quite  modern. 
Across  the  wide  gravel  Terrace,  down  a  flight  of 
stone  steps,  with  banks  of  thick,  glossy  Laurels  on 


2U        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

each  side,  is  seen  a  wonderful  and  unique  vista 
through  an  arch  cut  in  the  thick,  straight-clipped 
Yews,  down  over  the  greenest  of  green  grass  slopes, 
across  the  shimmering  river  to  great  clipped  trees 
beyond,  and  up  a  straight  cut  path  with  only  a 
streak  of  sky  showing  between  the  living  walls  of 
green.  It  is  a  wonderful  sight,  especially  when 
seen  on  a  summer's  evening  with  the  afterglow  of 
sunset  still  lingering,  and  the  glorious  harvest  moon 
gradually  rising,  a  brilliant  ball  of  orange  in  the 
mauve  sky.  The  mysterious  light  brings  out  to  the 
full  the  weird  wonder  of  the  place,  with  its  varied 
depths  and  shades  of  green,  so  subtly  blended,  and 
vanishing  in  the  blue  blackness  of  the  Yews.  Little 
paths  wander  over  the  banks,  in  many  instances 
perfect  green  Bowers,  for  the  branches  of  the  trees 
planted  on  each  side,  being  twisted  downwards  to 
form  an  archway  over  the  path,  make  a  kind  of 
Pleached  Alley.  The  whole  of  this  strange  Garden 
is  cut  into  three  Terraces  out  of  the  bank  of  the 
River  Lee  which  runs  at  the  foot. 

The  broad  Terraces  are  gravelled,  while  narrow 
paths  ending  in  steps  run  down  by  the  walls  to  the 
river,  bordered  by  a  grassy  sward  planted  with 
clipped  Yews.  It  is  all  severe,  dark,  and  solemn, 
and  as  one  writer  says,  "its  primly  cut,  methodical 
Yews  with  their  parallel  alleys,  carry  imagination 
back  to  Donne,  Herbert,  and  Burton,  such  poetry, 
such  prose,  so  fresh,  so  scholarly,  so  contemplative 


THE    VINEYARD,   HATF1ELD 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  215 

solemn  as  those  Yews,  quaint  and  fantastic  as 
they  could  only  have  been  in  a  retreat  like  this." 

From  the  first  moment  of  seeing  this  retreat  filled 
with  solitude  the  question  arises,  Who  designed 
this  beautiful  green  Dell  ?  and  only  one  answer 
can  be  given — a  Frenchman,  viz.,  Simon  Sturtivant. 
But  from  all  accounts  not  half  the  wonders  planned 
were  accomplished,  and  even  many  that  were  dis- 
appeared in  the  lapse  of  years  ;  such  as  Arbours  and 
flowers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Fountain  and  the 
marvellous  ''waterworks"  planned  by  the  French- 
man, so  popular  in  those  days.  Bridges  across 
the  river  gave  access  to  the  Vineyard  on  the 
other  side,  from  which  Vineyard  this  strange 
Garden  still  takes  its  name,  though  the  Vines 
have  all  disappeared. 

Long  before  this  date,  however,  Hatfield  pos- 
sessed a  Vineyard,  in  which  grew  the  Grapes  used 
first  by  the  Abbots  and  then  by  the  Bishops  of  Ely 
to  make  their  wine.  But  from  all  accounts  the 
Grapes  grown  in  England  were  generally  very  poor, 
and  consequently  the  wine  made  from  them  was 
bad  in  quality,  probably  not  unlike  the  vin  ordinaire 
drunk  by  the  French  peasants ;  and  this  was  no 
doubt  why  Vineyards  ceased  to  be  cultivated  in 
England. 

When  Sir  Robert  Cecil  determined  to  replant 
the  old  Vineyard,  which  had  been  associated 
with  Hatfield  for  so  many  centuries,  he  did  every- 


216        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

thing  in  his  power  to  make  it  a  success.  In  the 
library  at  Hatfield  is  a  document  showing  that  over 
20,000  Vines  were  planted,  and  the  following  letter 
to  Cecil  shows  where  they  came  from  :  "  Under- 
standing your  Lordship's  speech  yesterday,  that  you 
are  about  to  send  some  present  of  gratification  to 
Mde  de  la  Boderye  (the  wife  of  the  French 
Ambassador)  in  regard  to  your  Vines,  Lest  your 
Lordship's  bounty  which  knows  the  true  limitts  of 
honor  of  itself,  should  be  misledd  by  my  disesteeming 
the  things  upon  a  sodayne  when  I  valued  them  but 
att  ^40,  I  thought  good  to  let  your  Lordship  know 
before  it  be  too  late  that  I  misreckned  myselfe  for 
20,000  at  8  crowns  the  thousand,  cometh  to  near 
^50  sterling,  besydes  the  carriage  and  besydes,  the 
Ambassador  sent  me  word  yesterday  by  his  Maistr- 
d'- Hostel  that  there  are  10,000  more  a  coming 
which  he  hath  consigned  to  be  delivered  heer  to  me 
for  your  Lordship's  use."  Besides  all  these  plants, 
Cecil  had  a  present  of  500  sent  to  him  by  the 
Queen  of  France.  "  This  evening  came  to  me  the 
French  Queen's  gardener,  that  hath  brought  over 
the  fruit  trees  for  the  King  and  your  Lord- 
ship," writes  his  steward.  The  Gardener  mentioned 
here  was  probably  Pierre  Collin,  to  whom  the 
arrangement  and  planting  was  left.  Notwithstand- 
ing these  efforts  the  Vineyard  at  Hatfield  was 
doomed  to  failure  and  only  existed  a  few  years, 
the  last  mention  of  it  being  in  1638. 


HATFIELD  HOUSE  217 

Lord  Salisbury  seems  to  have  been  fortunate  in 
receiving  presents  of  fruit  for  his  new  Garden  ;  for 
Lady  Tresham,  at  Lyndon,  sent  him  fifty  Cherry 
trees  ;  Nectarines  came  from  Sir  Edmund  Sulyard ; 
and  Sir  Edmund  Coke  "a  Norfolk  Tumbler  for  his 
Warren." 

But  to  return  to  the  so-called  Vineyard,  so 
beautiful,  and  so  impossible  to  describe  ;  it  delighted 
even  Pepys'  coarse  old  soul,  for  he  alludes  to  it 
again  in  1667.  "As  soon  as  we  had  dined  we 
walked  out  into  the  Park,  through  the  fine  walk  of 
trees,  and  to  the  Vineyard,  and  there  showed  them 
that,  which  is  in  good  order,  and  indeed  a  place  of 
great  delight ;  which  together  with  our  fine  walk 
through  the  Park,  was  of  much  pleasure,  as  could 
be  desired  in  the  world  for  country  pleasure  and 
good  ayre."  The  old  Dell  and  Vineyard  is  always 
associated  with  the  "  wicked  Marchioness,"  whose 
exquisite  portrait  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Hatfield 
House — a  lady  possessed  of  a  love  for  gorgeous 
and  picturesque  effects,  and  of  posing  in  them  as 
the  central  figure.  On  Sundays,  seated  in  a  vividly 
painted  state  barge,  rowed  by  servants  in  blue 
liveries,  her  appearance  roused  much  interest  and 
amazement  among  the  village  people  who  watched 
the  proceedings  from  the  banks  of  the  river  Lee. 
This  lady  was  burnt  to  death  in  one  of  the  wings 
of  the  House  (since  restored),  and  people  said  the 
devil  had  come  to  fetch  her,  setting  fire  to  the 


218        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

house  as  he  left,  the  infernal  flames  being  stayed  at 
the  chapel. 

It  is  almost  a  sorrow  to  try  to  paint  with  such  a 
cold  medium  as  a  pen  the  quaint  beauties  of  these 
Gardens  at  Hatfield.  They  possess,  like  most 
Gardens,  that  strange  power  of  conjuring  up  the 
past  for  those  with  eyes  to  see,  making  the  little 
Privy  Garden  re-echo  with  footsteps  of  famous 
men  and  women  from  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  late 
celebrated  Prime  Minister  of  England.  Then  the 
old  Palace,  strangely  bound  up  with  the  flowers 
near  by  as  life  is  with  stern  realities  and  pretty 
follies,  stands  a  living  record  of  five  hundred  years 
of  ecclesiastical  grandeur.  And  the  Vineyard — that 
"rarity" — what  if  much  of  its  glory  has  departed, 
does  it  not  still  remain  a  beautiful  stately  poem,  a 
possession  to  be  revered  as  well  as  loved?  To 
none  of  its  lovers  is  it  more  delightsome  than  to 
the  mischievous  Titania,  Queen  of  the  Fairies,  who 
eagerly  leaves  her  flowery  bowers  for  the  cool, 
green  Garden,  ready  to  play  her  pranks  on  any 
mortal  who  dares  venture  to  invade  it,  and  her 
fairies  snatch  with  tiny,  greedy  hands  at  many  a 
treasure  which  is  lost — sought  for — but  never 
found. 


HOLLAND    HOUSE,    KENSINGTON 


" '  The  blind  bow-boy,'  "  who  smiles  upon  us  from  the  end  of 
terraces  in  old  Dutch  gardens,  laughingly  hails  his  bird-bolts 
among  a  fleeting  generation.  But  for  as  fast  as  ever  he  shoots, 
the  game  dissolves  and  disappears  into  eternity  from  under  his 
falling  arrows ;  this  one  is  gone  ere  he  is  struck ;  the  other  has 
but  time  to  make  one  gesture  and  give  one  passionate  cry ;  and 
they  are  all  the  things  of  a  moment." —  Virginifrus  Puerisque 


XI 

HOLLAND  HOUSE,  KENSINGTON 


Garden  must  perforce,  if  it  possess 
•*--'  any  history,  be  a  Garden  of  memories,  but 
none  perhaps  is  so  rich  in  varied  recollections  of 
the  past  as  that  of  Holland  House.  There  are 
Gardens  where  kings  and  queens  have  walked  and 
little  princes  played,  where  learned  prelates  have 
enjoyed  the  sunshine  and  the  flowers  while  ceasing 
to  think  of  dogmas  or  political  intrigues,  and  where 
poets  have  dreamt  of  love  ;  but  few  Gardens  have 
witnessed  and  lived  through  such  strange  vicissi- 
tudes as  those  round  Holland  House  :  every  path, 
tree,  and  flower  has  its  story. 

Kings  and  queens  have  enjoyed  their  beauty, 
for  surely  Charles's  fascinating  Queen,  Henrietta 
Maria,  paid  flying  visits  here  to  her  bien  aimd,  "the 
gay,  gallant,  vacillating  Henry  Rich."  King  James 
must  have  paced  some  walk  anxiously  awaiting 
news  of  his  dying  son  —  the  excellent  Prince  Henry. 
Was  it  perhaps  some  memory  of  the  past  which 


222        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

made  William  II.  prefer  my  Lord  Nottingham's 
house  as  a  Royal  residence  to  Holland  House  with 
its  beautiful  gardens  ?  Here  among  the  flowers 
poets  wrote  verses,  wits  laughed  at  each  other's 
sallies,  and  Luttrell,  the  last  of  the  conversational- 
ists, made  speech  appear  golden.  Statesmen  have 
wandered  under  the  old  trees  pondering  weighty 
matters  that  might  make  or  mar  a  kingdom.  Here 
Fox,  beloved  of  all,  laughed,  and  planned  the 
helping  of  mankind.  In  the  Green  Lane  lovers 
have  met  and  whispered  vows — broken  and  for- 
gotten, actors  have  glibly  rehearsed  witty  plays 
amongst  the  winding  paths,  and  in  the  glorious 
trees  Vandyke  may  have  found  the  inspiration  for 
his  leafy  backgrounds.  And  in  some  shaded 
corner  brave  men  and  true  have  huskily  told  the 
fate  of  the  world's  greatest  conqueror — of  England's 
justice  without  mercy  to  a  fallen  foe.  Here,  too, 
the  famous  Shippen — immortalised  by  Pope,  and 
whom  even  Walpole  declared  incorruptible — 
walked,  dreaming  perhaps  of  Jacobite  successes 
and  the  restoration  of  a  Stuart  king. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  memories  awakened 
by  a  visit  to  the  Gardens  of  Holland  House. 
The  House  and  Garden  are,  however,  so  intimately 
bound  up  together  that  it  would  be  ruthless  to 
divorce  them,  especially  as  each  gains  interest  from 
the  other,  and  both  together  have  grown  into  a 
beautiful  whole.  The  Manor  of  Kensington — 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  223 

or  "  Chenesiton,"  as  it  is  called  in  the  Dooms- 
day Book — belonged  to  the  De  Veres  for  many 
generations  and  then  became,  through  marriage,  the 
property  of  the  Argylls.  In  1607  Sir  Walter  Cope 
purchased  the  property  and  built  the  present  house, 
being  fortunate  enough  to  have  John  Thorpe  for 
his  architect,  his  original  drawings  for  it  being  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  Soane  Museum. 

Old  books  say  that  the  Garden  round  the  old 
Manor  House  was  laid  out  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  but 
though  there  is  now  no  evidence  of  this  remaining 
it  is  very  improbable  that  either  the  old  Manor 
House  or  Sir  Walter's  new  House  were  gardenless. 
In  all  likelihood  the  fashion  of  the  day  was  followed 
by  Sir  Walter  Cope  of  a  regular  Formal  Garden 
with  green  Lawns  and  a  Bowling  Green.  The 
latter  is  mentioned  by  Samuel  Rogers ;  in  his 
"  Recollections"  he  notes  that  "the  Bowling  Green 
at  Holland  House  is  mown  every  day." 

Chance  and  change  being  the  unwritten  motto  of 
this  old  House,  it  again  passed  into  other  hands, 
this  time  through  the  marriage  of  Sir  Walter  Cope's 
daughter  and  heiress  (who  brought  as  a  marriage 
portion  the  manor  and  seat  of  Kensington)  with 
Henry  Rich,  the  second  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Warwick  and  the  favourite  of  James  I.,  who 
arranged  the  marriage.  Henry  Rich,  son  of 
Penelope — the  Stella  immortalised  by  Sir  Philip 
Sidney — was  destined  to  inherit  the  personal  charm 


224        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

and  beauty  of  his  mother  to  such  a  degree  that 
few  could  resist  him.  Magnificently  lavish  in  all  he 
did,  he  enlarged  Holland  House  by  building  on  the 
wings  and  arcades,  said  to  have  been  designed  by 
Inigo  Jones.  He  also  gave  his  name  to  the  House, 
Charles  creating  him  first  Baron  Kensington,  and 
later  Earl  of  Holland,  in  recognition  of  his  many 
services,  one  being  the  escorting,  with  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  of  his  beautiful  Queen  to  England. 
Gossip  whispers  of  more  than  a  tender  friendship 
which  existed  between  Holland  and  his  Queen ;  but 
be  that  as  it  may,  it  was  of  brief  duration.  The 
Queen's  quick,  imperious  nature  could  ill  brook  his 
wavering  allegiance  to  the  Royal  cause,  and  when 
danger  threatened  it  Clarendon  more  than  hints 
that  she  finally  drove  Lord  Holland  to  declare 
himself  openly  for  Cromwell. 

Thus  Holland  House  became  the  meeting-place 
of  the  Parliamentary  leaders.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  a  journal  of  the  time  mentions  this  : — 

"  Perfect  Diurnal,  2nd  August  to  9th  August, 

"1647. 

"Aug.  6tk. — This  morning  the  members  of 
Parliament  which  were  driven  by  tumults  from 
Westminster,  met  General  (Fairfax)  at  the  Earl  of 
Holland's  House,  Kensington,  and  subscribed  to 
the  declaration  of  the  army." 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  225 

It  is  evident  that  Lord  Holland  felt  remorse 
for  the  part  he  had  played,  as  towards  the  end  of 
the  struggle  between  the  King  and  Cromwell  he 
made  a  brave  stand  for  the  Royalists  at  Kingston, 
was  defeated,  taken  and  imprisoned  in  his  own 
house  at  Kensington.  Horace  Walpole  alludes  to 
his  death  thus  :  "It  was  a  remarkable  scene, 
exhibited  on  the  scaffold  on  which  Lord  Capel 
fell.  At  the  same  time  was  executed  the  once 
gay,  beautiful,  gallant  Earl  of  Holland,  whom 
neither  the  honours  showered  on  him  by  his 
Prince,  nor  his  more  tender  connection  with  the 
Queen,  could  preserve  from  betraying  and  engaging 
against  both." 

Cromwell  and  Ireton  (the  latter  being  deaf)  dis- 
cussed their  secret  designs  in  the  middle  of  the 
field  in  front  of  Holland  House,  thus  making  it 
impossible  for  any  one  to  overhear  their  plans. 

For  some  months  after  Lord  Holland's  death 
General  Fairfax  took  up  his  quarters  at  Holland 
House.  "  The  Lord  General  Fairfax  is  removed 
from  Queen  Street  to  the  late  Earl  of  Holland's 
House  at  Kensington,  where  he  intends  to  reside." 
Later  the  House  was  restored  to  the  Countess  of 
Holland,  who  lived  there  till  her  death. 

During  the  Commonwealth,  when  the  theatres 
were  closed,  the  players  who  had  bravely  joined 
the  King's  army,  were  almost  starving — only  being 
able  to  act  privately  with  the  greatest  caution. 


226        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Sometimes  they  played  at  great  houses,  and 
Holland  House  is  particularly  mentioned  as  ever 
having  its  doors  open  to  befriend  them ;  and 
Colley  Gibber  writes  :  "  Holland  House  at  Ken- 
sington, where  the  Nobility  and  Gentry  who  met 
(but  in  no  great  Numbers)  used  to  make  a 
Sum  for  them,  each  giving  a  broad  Peice,  or  the 
like." 

For  some  time  after  the  Restoration,  it  appears 
that  Holland  House  was  let  out  in  suites  of  rooms, 
and  strangely  most  of  the  occupants  were  celebrities, 
thus  adding  to  the  marvellous  list  of  great  names 
that  have  ever  been  associated  with  this  House. 
Among  these  tenants  was  Chardin,the  famous  French 
traveller  (knighted  by  Charles  II.),  who,  as  he  was 
especially  interested  in  trees,  may  perhaps  have 
been  the  means  of  planting  the  grounds  with  some 
of  the  choice  foreign  specimens  to  be  found  there. 
A  very  different  character  was  William  Penn,  the 
Quaker  and  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  who  lived  for 
more  than  a  year  at  Holland  House  ;  as  well  as 
many  other  well-known  people.  It  was  through  his 
marriage  with  Lady  Warwick  (the  second  Earl  of 
Holland  had  succeeded  his  cousin  as  Earl  of 
Warwick)  that  Joseph  Addison  became  connected 
with  the  Hollands.  Doctor  Johnson  writes  in  his 
life  of  Addison  :  "In  this  year  Addison  married 
the  Countess  Dowager  of  Warwick,  whom  he  had 
solicited  by  a  very  long  and  anxious  courtship.  At 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  227 

last  the  lady  was  persuaded  to  marry  him  on  the 
terms  much  like  those  on  which  the  Turkish  princess 
is  espoused,  to  whom  the  Sultan  is  reported  to 
pronounce,  '  Daughter,  I  give  thee  this  man  for  thy 
slave.'"  Addison's  genius  will  be  for  ever  associated 
with  Holland  House  and  its  Gardens,  especially  as 
like  many  men  of  letters  he  found  relaxation  in 
the  pleasures  of  a  Garden,  and  has  written  most 
charmingly  in  the  Spectator  about  its  joys,  for- 
getting when  writing  of  them  the  severe  classical 
style  he  usually  affected. 

He  calls  himself  a  "  humorist  in  Gardening,"  and 
says  that  his  neighbours  call  him  "very  whimsical  " 
because  he  prefers  the  glory  of  the  birds  to  the  red 
cherries  they  destroy.  He  very  aptly  compares 
Poetry  to  Gardening.  "  I  think  there  are  as  many 
kinds  of  Gardening  as  of  poetry  ;  your  makers  of 
Parterres  and  Flower  Gardens  are  epigrammatists 
and  sonneteers  in  this  art ;  contrivers  of  Bowers 
and  Grottos,  Treillages,  and  Cascades  are  romance 
writers.  Wise  and  London  are  our  heroic  poets." 
This  last  remark  shows  at  once  the  school  of 
Gardening  Addison  belonged  to — in  fact,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  he  helped  to  bring  in  the  Landscape 
style ;  its  admirers  always  called  "Bacon  the  prophet, 
Milton  the  herald,  and  Addison,  Pope,  and  Kent 
the  champions  of  this  true  taste  in  Gardening 
because  they  absolutely  brought  it  into  execution." 
Addison  declares  that  "  an  Orchard  in  flower  looks 


228        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

infinitely  more  delightful  than  all  the  little  labyrinths 
of  the  most  finished  Parterre." 

Notwithstanding  his  new  principles  in  Gardening 
— if  it  is  his  Garden  at  Bilton,  in  Warwickshire, 
he  describes — it  must  have  possessed  great  charm, 
and  can  have  been  little  marred  by  the  faults  of  the 
style  he  admired.  He  writes:  "  It  is  a  confusion  of 
Kitchen  and  Parterre,  Orchard  and  Flower  Garden, 
which  lie  so  mixed  and  interwoven  with  one  another 
that  if  a  foreigner  who  had  seen  nothing  of  our 
country  should  be  conveyed  to  my  Garden  at  his 
landing,  he  would  look  upon  it  as  a  natural  wilder- 
ness, and  one  of  the  uncultivated  parts  of  our 
country.  My  flowers  grow  up  in  several  parts  of 
the  Garden  in  the  greatest  luxuriancy  and  profusion. 
I  am  so  far  from  being  fond  of  any  particular  one  by 
reason  of  its  rarity,  that  if  I  meet  with  any  one  in  a 
field  which  pleases  me  I  give  it  a  place  in  my 
Garden." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  Addison  was  allowed  by 
his  imperious  Countess  to  put  any  of  his  views  into 
practice  in  the  Garden  at  Holland  House,  as  most 
probably  the  two  held  different  opinions  on  this 
subject  as  on  most  other  points.  The  marriage  did 
not  prove  a  happy  one,  and  some  wit  cleverly 
remarked,  "  Holland  House,  although  a  large  house, 
could  not  contain  Mr.  Addison,  the  Countess  of 
Warwick,  and  one  guest — Peace." 

In    1719   Addison  died — it  is  said  of  a   broken 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  229 

heart — at  Holland  House,  which  he  admired  and 
loved  so  dearly. 

It  was  growing  time  for  "the  brave  Old  House  " 
to  pass  on  again  into  other  hands,  and  when  the 
young  Earl  of  Warwick  died  without  an  heir,  Mr. 
Henry  Fox  (Sir  Stephen  Fox's  second  son)  took  a 
long  lease  of  it  in  1 746  and  afterwards  purchased  it 
from  the  Kensington  family,  living  there  till  his 
death.  Both  Pepys  and  Evelyn,  the  two  great 
Diarists,  have  much  to  say  about  Sir  Stephen  Fox 
and  his  extraordinary  political  career,  extending 
over  four  reigns ;  and  his  popularity  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  judging  from  the  description  of  his 
character  in  Evelyn's  Diary.  "  He  is  generous 
and  lives  very  honourably,  of  a  sweet  nature,  well- 
spoken,  well-bred,  and  is  so  highly  in  his  Majesty's 
esteem." 

Mr.  Henry  Fox  (the  first  Lord  Holland)  made  a 
most  romantic  marriage ;  he  ran  away  with  Lady 
Caroline  Lennox,  daughter  of  the  second  Duke  of 
Richmond.  Of  this  marriage — which  turned  out 
most  happily — Walpole,  as  usual,  has  some  amusing 
remarks  to  make.  He  also  writes  to  Sir  Horace 
Mann  in  1747  :  "Mr.  Fox  gave  a  great  ball  last 
week  at  Holland  House,  which  he  has  taken  for  a 
long  term,  and  where  he  is  making  great  improve- 
ments. It  is  a  brave  old  house  and  belonged  to 
the  gallant  Earl  of  Holland,  the  lover  of  Charles  I.'s 
Queen." 


230        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  first  Lord  Holland  was  much  concerned 
about  his  Garden,  and  was  constantly  writing  to 
a  friend,  Peter  Collinson,  about  it :  "If  you  will 
permit  us,  Lady  Caroline  has  a  thousand  Questions 
to  ask  you  about  Flowers  and  I  not  much  fewer 
about  Plants."  Then,  in  1750,  he  writes  to  the 
same  friend,  saying  he  wants  to  "  raise  a  Quantity 
of  spreading  Cypress  from  seed,  also  Scarlet  Oak 
and  Chestnuts " ;  and  his  friend  writes  back  to 
remind  him  in  March  to  sow  "  Candy  Tuft,  Rock 
Stock,  Venus'  Looking-Glass  " — such  delightfully 
old-fashioned  plants. 

It  was  in  1767  that  Lord  Holland  got  his  great 
friend,  Charles  Hamilton,  of  Pain's  Hill,  to  lay  out 
the  Grounds  of  Holland  House.  Horace  Walpole 
mentions  Hamilton  in  his  well-known  essay  on 
"  Modern  Gardening."  Both  Walpole  and  Hamil- 
ton were  aiming  at  the  same  goal — viz.,  the  natural 
school  of  Gardening — and  could,  therefore,  afford  to 
be  good  friends  !  For  the  making  of  Gardens  has 
been,  like  many  better  and  worse  pleasures,  the 
cause  of  more  than  one  quarrel.  Even  now 
partisans  of  formal  or  natural  Gardens  are  apt  to 
become  too  eager  for  friendship. 

Hamilton  introduced  various  American  trees  into 
the  Garden  and  also  some  curious  Oaks,  and  he  is 
supposed  to  have  suggested  the  turfing  of  the 
Green  Lane,  though  the  original  idea  of  shutting 
up  the  road  to  form  this  Avenue  was  the  first  Lady 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  231 

Holland's.  Lord  Holland  and  his  son  both  died 
in  the  same  year,  1774,  and  were  succeeded  by 
Henry  Richard,  third  Lord  Holland.  It  was  in 
his  time  that  Holland  House  became  the  intellectual 
centre  for  every  one  distinguished  in  art,  letters, 
or  science  throughout  Europe,  many  celebrated 
foreigners  carrying  away  a  vivid  memory  of  the 
House,  its  brilliant  inmates  and  its  beautiful 
Gardens. 

Lady  Holland's  reunions  were,  in  fact,  the  nearest 
approach  to  those  fascinating  salons,  so  difficult 
to  create  and  even  more  difficult  to  hold  together, 
which  appear  as  if  they  were  only  in  reality  to  be 
found  in  Paris,  the  home  of  every  art,  where  the 
genius  of  Mademoiselle  de  L6spinasse,  the  brilliance 
of  Madame  de  Stae'l,  and  the  beauty  of  Madame 
Recamier,  gathered  together  men  of  every  calibre. 

Holland  House  is  no  longer  surrounded  by  green 
lanes  and  flowering  meadows,  as  in  the  good  old 
days  of  Queen  Bess  ;  it  now  lies  in  the  heart  of  a 
bustling,  busy  suburb  of  London,  called  Royal 
Kensington,  where  alas  !  it  will  soon  be  the  only 
remaining  green  oasis  left,  the  ruthless  hand  of  the 
builder  having  pulled  down  nearly  all  the  beautiful 
country  houses  in  the  neighbourhood,  building  over 
both  their  sites  and  their  Gardens.  Parallel  with 
the  fine  Elm  Avenue  (which  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
long)  there  runs  beside  it  a  leafy,  shady  Lane,  which 
was  given  to  the  public  by  the  fourth  Lord  Holland 


232        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

when  he  closed  the  right  of  way  in  front  of  the 
Terrace  on  the  south  side  of  the  House.  When 
this  was  done  Lord  Holland  made  a  grass  Terrace 
by  raising  the  ground  there,  and  a  carriage  entrance 
by  lowering  it  on  the  east  side  of  the  House,  doing 
away  with  the  more  ancient  one  at  the  south  front. 
In  this  alteration  the  beautiful  old  stone  piers 
designed  by  Inigo  Jones  in  1629,  and  carved  by 
Nicholas  Stone,  were  removed  from  their  position 
at  the  south  front  of  the  House,  where  they  stood, 
not  supporting  a  gateway  as  might  be  supposed 
but  at  each  end  of  a  railing.  They  were  placed 
at  right  angles  to  the  new  carriage  entrance  at 
the  east  side  of  the  House  and  are  approached 
by  a  double  flight  of  steps,  on  either  side  of  a 
fountain  in  the  wall  below.  The  piers  are  sur- 
mounted by  the  arms  of  Rich,  quartering  Bouldry 
and  impaling  Cope,  telling  a  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  House.  The  north  front  of  the  House 
(reached  by  passing  up  the  steps  and  through  the 
gateway)  faces  on  to  a  wide  green  expanse  of 
Lawn,  with  some  fine  old  Cedar  trees  planted  by 
Charles  Fox.  Beyond  this  Lawn  is  a  lovely  Rose 
Garden  (wonderful  as  well  as  lovely,  for  it  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  this  is  a  London  Garden), 
having  as  its  leading  feature  a  long  Grass  Path 
bordered  by  those  pink  beauties,  "Caroline  Testout." 
To  the  left  lies  the  Rock  Garden,  only  separated 
from  the  Rose  Garden  by  a  well-placed  mass  of 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  233 

Rhododendrons,  that  give  a  radiance  of  colour  to 
the  Garden  in  Spring.  Among  the  Rock-plants 
are  to  be  noticed  many  varieties  of  Sedums, 
Thymus,  Dranthus,  Saxifrage,  Aubrietia,  Cistus, 
Cytisus,  Iberis,  Helianthemum,  Campanula,  Hy- 
pericum,  and  many  other  Rock-growing  plants  too 
numerous  to  mention. 

Flagged  stone  steps  lead  down  through  the 
Rock  Garden,  past  a  Sundial,  and  on  through  the 
Rockeries  to  a  Grotto  containing  a  spring,  from 
which  the  water  flows  in  fascinating  little  rivulets 
through  the  Japanese  Garden. 

Both  the  Rock  Garden  and  the  Japanese  Garden 
are  innovations  designed  by  the  late  owner  of 
Holland  House,  Lord  Ilchester,  who,  with  Lady 
Ilchester,  took  such  exceptional  interest  in  their 
Gardens.  Few  people  realise  (according  to  Mr. 
Conder)  what  mystery  and  superstition  lie  behind 
the  making  of  a  Garden  in  Japan — for  while 
attempting  to  express  nature  (being  followers  of  the 
Landscape  school  which  they  adopted  from  the 
Chinese),  Japanese  designs  are  symbolical  and 
intended  to  convey  such  abstract  ideas  as  "  Medi- 
tation," "  Retirement,"  etc.  Even  the  very  stones, 
so  essential  to  their  arrangement,  have  all  sex, 
name,  and  meaning.  There  are  three  styles  of 
Gardening  in  Japan,  "  The  Finished  Style,"  "  The 
Intermediate  Style,"  and  "The  Bold  Style"; 
which,  unlike  English  methods,  are  never  blended 


234        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

in  one  Garden,  but  kept  completely  apart.  With 
this  marvellous  nation,  to  attempt  is  to  succeed, 
and  their  Gardens  possess  not  only  artistic  value 
but  practical  merit. 

The  Japanese  Garden  at  Holland  House  is  very 
charming ;  there  is,  of  course,  an  old  Stone 
Lantern,  of  grey  granite,  quaintly  carved  and 
dating  back  four  hundred  years  ;  no  Japanese 
Garden  being  complete  without  one.  It  stands  at 
the  top  of  a  sloping  Lawn,  planted  with  numerous 
flowers  and  shrubs,  such  as  Bamboos,  Yuccas, 
endless  varieties  of  Lilies,  Hydrangeas,  Chrysan- 
themums, Roses,  Dracaenas,  and  various  kinds  of 
Grasses.  The  little  stream  from  the  Rock  Garden 
runs  down  through  the  Lawn,  between  the  cleverly- 
placed  stepping-stones,  clear  and  rippling  and 
bordered  by  plants,  till  it  reaches  a  basin,  covered 
with  pure  white  Water  Lilies,  which  can  be 
crossed  in  the  correct  Japanese  way  by  stepping- 
stones,  or  by  a  little  rustic  bridge ;  while  below  it 
lies  another  Lawn  even  greener  than  the  last 
(well  might  Pepys  exclaim  at  the  beauty  "  of  the 
green  of  England — no  way  to  be  found  in 
France ! "),  and  planted  with  standard  Wistaria, 
feathery  Bamboos,  and  the  lovely  Japanese  Iris 
Ksempferi. 

At  the  foot  of  the  second  Lawn  lies  another 
pool  or  basin  of  water  covered  with  rose-coloured 
Marliac  Water  Lilies. 


THE   JAPANESE    GARDEN,   HOLLAND    HOUSE 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  235 

This  unique  Garden — such  a  surprise  among 
its  English  surroundings — is  surely  a  sign  of  the 
cosmopolitan  taste  of  the  English  people,  who 
have  so  often  imitated  Italian,  Dutch  and  French 
Gardens  with  all  their  particular  beauties :  a  new 
note,  in  fact,  is  struck  by  this  strange,  mystic  Garden 
of  Japan.  Where  it  ends,  and  a  little  to  the  left, 
runs  the  Terrace  of  the  Italian  Garden,  bordered 
on  one  side  by  an  "  evergreen  curtain  " — an  Ivy- 
framed  Arcade — cleverly  constructed  from  one  of 
the  old  stable  walls,  with  charming  effect.  Joining 
this  Arcade  is  the  old  ballroom,  so  celebrated  for 
the  breakfasts  given  there  by  the  late  Lady  Holland 
when  wit  sparkled,  politics  were  discussed,  and  love 
whispered. 

It  was  near  here,  in  1804,  that  the  well-known 
duel  took  place  between  Captain  Best  and  Lord 
Camelford.  Little  need  to  say  that  the  quarrel 
was  about  a  woman,  and  that  there  was  little  cause 
for  a  duel  at  all.  Lord  Camelford  was  impetuous, 
as  well  as  eccentric.  As  an  instance  of  his  eccen- 
tricity may  be  mentioned  his  preference  for  rooms 
over  a  Bond  Street  grocer's  shop  to  his  own 
magnificent  house.  At  the  Prince  of  Wales'  coffee 
house  in  Conduit  Street,  near  his  rooms,  the  fatal 
words  were  spoken.  No  arrangement  could  be 
made  to  settle  the  affair  amicably  as  Captain  Bes 
had  the  reputation  of  being  the  finest  shot  in 
England,  and  his  opponent  fancied  any  overtures 


236        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

to  him  would  betoken  cowardice.  As  was  ex- 
pected, the  duel  proved  fatal  to  Lord  Camelford, 
who  died  declaring  that  no  blame  attached  to 
Captain  Best  as  he  (Lord  Camelford)  was  the 
sole  aggressor,  and  imploring  to  be  buried  on  the 
borders  of  the  Lake  of  Lampierre,  in  the  Canton 
of  Berne,  and  leaving  ^1,000  as  compensation  to 
the  owners. 

The  Orangery  lies  beyond  the  ballroom  at  the  end 
of  the  Terrace,  below  which,  on  the  right,  is  the 
Italian  Garden,  only  separated  by  a  path  from 
the  Green  Lane.  This  latter  is  a  long  avenue 
of  magnificent  trees,  turfed  from  end  to  end,  a 
marvellous  possession  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness 
of  bricks  and  mortar  which  form  modern  London. 
And  it  was  here  that  in  his  later  years 
Charles  Fox  loved  to  wander.  In  Trotter's 
Memoirs  of  the  great  orator  he  says  :  "  It  (Holland 
House)  was  the  place  where  he  had  spent  his 
youthful  days  Every  Lawn,  Garden,  Tree  and 
Walk  were  v£wed  by  him  with  peculiar  affection. 
He  pointed  out  its  beauties  to  me,  particularly 
showed  me  the  Green  Lane,  or  Avenue,  which 
his  mother,  the  first  Lady  Holland,  had  made  by 
shutting  up  a  road."  There  is  another  walk  which 
always  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Alley  Louis 
Philippe;  as  in  1848,  when  they  were  exiled  from 
France,  Lady  Holland  lent  King  Louis  Philippe 
and  Queen  Marie  Amelie  Holland  House  for 


HOLLAND   HOUSE  237 

some  weeks,  and  the  King  took  his  daily  morning 
walk  there. 

The  prettiest  entrance  to  the  Dutch  Garden — 
the  Garden  of  "our  grandmothers,  the  Chloes 
and  Delias  of  the  i8th  century,"  as  Leigh  Hunt 
calls  it — is  close  to  the  House,  from  where  an  un- 
interrupted view  of  the  whole  Garden  can  be  seen, 
including  the  little  Dahlia  plot  lying  at  the  end  of 
it,  shut  in  by  its  high  hedges.  This  Dutch  Garden 
is  delightfully  set  out,  the  geometrical  Parterres 
of  black  earth,  edged  with  closely-clipped  Box,  are 
intersected  by  narrow  Gravel  Paths  converging 
diagonally  towards  two  Fountains  and  an  Armillary 
Sphere,  which  are  placed  in  a  line,  some  distance 
apart,  in  the  centre  of  the  Garden.  Perhaps,  to 
get  the  full  charm  of  the  design,  it  should  be  looked 
at  from  a  height,  when  it  is  seen  to  cover  the  ground 
like  a  gorgeous  carpet,  an  intricate  blaze  of  colour 
framed  in  an  edging  of  dull  green  Box.  This  view 
is  made  quite  possible  by  walking  along  the  Terrace 
running  from  the  south  front  of  the  House  to  the 
flat  roof  of  the  ballroom. 

This  Terrace  lies  on  the  south  side,  and  helps — 
with  the  House  on  the  east,  a  long  brick  wall  on  the 
north,  and  the  stable  arcading  on  the  west — to 
enclose  the  Garden.  Its  being  thus  entirely  en- 
circled greatly  adds  to  its  beauty  and  emphasises 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  Garden  within  a  Garden.  At 
its  foot,  enclosed  within  prim  Privet  and  Yew 


238        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

hedges,  lies  the  little  Dahlia  plot,  so  full  of  interest. 
In  it,  built  in  the  wall,  stands  the  Arbour  in  which 
the  poet  Samuel  Rogers  used  to  sit,  of  whom  the 
third  Lord  Holland  (whose  friend  he  was)  wrote 
the  following  distich  in  his  honour  : — 

"S.  Rogers,  author  of 

'  Pleasures  of  Memory.' 
Here  Rogers  sat  and  here  for  ever  dwell 
With  me,  those  Pleasures  that  he  sings  so  well. 

V»-  H.D.  1818." 


Framed  and  hung  up  in  the  Arbour  is  a  long 
poetical  attempt  of  Henry  Luttrell's,  who  appears 
to  have  found  poetry  more  difficult  than  prose.  The 
following  lines  are,  perhaps,  worth  recording  : — 


"  Not  a  line  can  I  hit  on,  that  Rogers  would  own, 
Though  my  senses  are  ravished,  my  feelings  in  tune, 
And  Holland's  my  host  and  the  Season  is  June ! " 


Opposite  this  Arbour  a  delightful  little  Fountain 
splashes,  fills,  runs  over,  and  fills  again,  sprinkling 
the  Dahlias  behind  it  with  a  perfect  shower  of 
spray.  This  Dahlia  bed  is  of  great  note,  for  it  was 
here  that  the  first  Dahlias  ever  grown  in  England 
were  planted.  For  though  they  had  been  brought 
into  England  from  America  by  Lady  Bute  in  1789, 
the  attempt  to  grow  them  was  an  absolute  failure, 
and  it  was  not  till  1804  that  they  were  successfully 


HOLLAND  HOUSE  239 

introduced  by  Lord  Holland.  When  travelling  in 
Spain  he  met  the  celebrated  botanist,  Joseph 
Cavanilles,  who  gave  him  some  seeds,  which  he 
had  planted  on  his  return  to  England.  When  they 
had  reached  seven  inches  in  height  they  were 
planted  out  in  this  little  spot  and  grew  to  "great 
height,  and  were  rich  and  varied  in  colour,"  being 
the  first  Dahlia  grown  in  this  country,  and  be- 
coming in  a  few  years  a  perfect  rage. 

The  origin  of  their  name  is  said  to  have  been 
that  of  Dahl,  the  Swedish  botanist,  after  whom 
Cavanilles  (who  first  described  the  genus)  named 
them.  Ever  since  then  this  little  corner  has  been 
dedicated  to  these  handsome  regal  flowers.  Behind 
the  bed  of  Dahlias,  placed  on  the  path  in  front  of 
the  Yew  hedge,  stands,  on  a  granite  column,  a 
Bust  of  Napoleon,  by  the  famous  sculptor,  Canova, 
done  by  him  when  Napoleon  was  Commander-in- 
Chief  in  Italy.  The  words  on  the  pillar,  translated, 
run  thus  : — 


He  is  not  dead,  he  breathes  the  air 
In  lands  beyond  the  deep ! 

Some  distant  sea-girt  island  where 
Harsh  men  the  hero  keep." 


The  third  Lord  Holland,  a  most  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  the  great  Napoleon,  was,  in  those  days, 
perhaps,  his  solitary  champion  ;  he  used  all  his 


240        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

influence  to  get  the  Emperor  imprisoned  in 
England,  but  completely  failed.  Rightly  or 
wrongly,  the  English  Government  preferred  the 
gloomy  solitude  of  S.  Helena  as  a  place  of  exile. 
Bertrand,  however,  and  other  devoted  admirers  of 
Napoleon  were  visitors  at  Holland  House. 

Of  Statues  and  Busts  in  this  Garden  there  are 
singularly  few.  One  among  them  is  a  replica  of 
the  colossal  Statue  of  Charles  James  Fox  by 
Westmacott ;  it  was  moved  into  the  Garden  from 
the  front  hall  of  the  House  some  years  ago.  The 
words,  "Charles  James  Fox.  Whom  all  nations 
unite  in  esteeming  to  have  been  the  chief  man  of 
the  people,"  are  written  below. 

The  fifth  Lord  Ilchester  placed  an  Italian  stone 
Fountain,  built  into  a  wall,  in  the  West  Garden  ; 
and  also  a  larger  Fountain,  with  a  circular  stone 
basin,  in  the  centre  of  the  Grass  Terrace  by  the 
south  front  of  the  House,  in  which  the  Marliac 
Water-lilies  grow  beautifully. 

From  this  Terrace,  on  a  clear  day,  a  distant  view 
of  the  Surrey  hills  may  be  dimly  seen  on  the 
horizon,  and  perhaps  it  is  only  when  standing 
here,  looking  over  the  hazy,  blue  mass  of  houses, 
churches,  workshops  and  their  chimneys,  which 
surround  so  closely  Holland  House,  that  it  comes 
with  full  force  upon  the  spectator  that  this  beautiful 
Garden  lies  like  a  perfect  Eden  in  the  midst  of  the 
greatest  city  in  the  world. 


HUTTON   JOHN,   CUMBERLAND 


A  Garden  is  a  lovesome  thing,  God  wot ! 
Rose  plot, 

Fringed  pool, 
Fern'd  grot — 

The  veriest  school 
Of  peace ;  and  yet  the  fool 
Contends  that  God  is  not — 

Not  God !  in  Gardens !  when  the  eve  is  cool  ? 
Nay,  but  I  have  a  sign ; 
Tis  very  sure  God  walks  in  mine." 

J.  E.  BROWN 


XII 

HUTTON    JOHN,    CUMBERLAND 

EXQUISITE  glimpses  of  hill  and  dale  can  be 
seen  on  the  way  to  Hutton  John,  which  lies 
up  the  valley  of  Dacre,  not  far  from  Wordsworth's 
country.  The  old  house  stands  in  the  Garden  like 
a  grim  giant,  with  a  shower  of  flowers  at  his  feet. 
These  brilliant  blossoms  at  first  strike  the  beholder 
as  incongruous,  near  this  typical  border  manor 
house,  with  its  beautiful  Pele  tower.  But  the 
flowers  are  so  carefully  blended,  so  tenderly 
arranged,  that  they  must  be  admired,  though 
perhaps  without  them  the  grey  walls,  grass  Ter- 
races, and  stately  Yews  would  have  been  simpler 
and  more  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the 
place.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  Hutton 
John  is  one  of  a  chain  of  border  towers,  from 
which,  in  early  days,  war  was  waged,  not  only  with 
the  Scot  over  the  border,  but  with  near  neighbours. 
In  those  days  and  in  those  parts  the  great  aim  of 
life  was  to  gain  some  one  else's  cattle  or  posses- 


244        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

sions.  If  possible,  in  these  broils,  life  was  not 
sacrificed,  but  it  was  held  cheap,  and  the  loss  of 
many  a  brave  man  was  thought  a  good  exchange 
for  two  or  three  hundred  head  of  cattle. 

As  the  invaders,  ranging  from  a  dozen  to  some 
hundreds,  were  generally  the  stronger,  the  only 
hope  for  the  invaded  was  the  resource  suggested 
by  Pele  towers. 

In  border  counties  these  towers  (or  Pele  towers, 
as  they  are  usually  called)  are  square,  solid  buildings 
of  three  storeys,  with  a  newel  staircase  leading  on 
to  an  embattled  roof,  with  a  small  turret  watch- 
tower  overhanging  one  corner.  The  dwelling- 
rooms  inside  were  limited,  and  on  the  second  floor, 
the  only  access  being  from  outside  by  means  of  a 
ladder,  which  was  easily  removed  in  time  of  danger. 
The  ground  floor  was  strongly  vaulted  and  reserved 
for  cattle,  but  oftener  used  for  those  abundant  stores 
and  home-made  produce  which  people  of  long  ago 
so  wisely  made  and  more  wisely  ate,  knowing  they 
were  pure  and  good.  This  storeroom  was  fre- 
quently only  entered  by  a  trap-door  from  above, 
and  was  perfectly  secure  from  invaders. 

From  this  solid  stone  house  (the  walls  were  often 
seven  or  eight  feet  thick)  the  owner  was  safe  from 
molesters,  and  could  shower  arrows  or  shot  at  them 
until  they  were  forced  to  retreat.  When  the 
ground  floor  was  used  as  a  storehouse,  there  was 
an  enclosure  or  "  barmkin  "  attached  to  the  Pele 


HUTTON  JOHN  245 

tower,  in  which  the  cattle  were  kept,  and  those 
captured  from  some  neighbour  driven,  after  a 
successful  raid. 

As  can  easily  be  imagined,  flowers — "those  deli- 
cate darlings  of  Nature's  brood  " — are  almost  out  of 
place  around  such  a  style  of  dwelling,  and  their 
very  presence  nowadays  at  Hutton  John  denotes 
that  those  exciting  times  are  past  and  that  these  are 
the  "  piping  days  of  peace."  The  owners  of  these 
Pele  towers  were  slow  to  give  up  their  houses  of 
defence,  and  it  was  not  till  Tudor  days  that  the 
richer  owners  of  the  larger  towers  began  to  enlarge 
their  dwellings,  building  low,  rambling,  two-storied 
wings  on  to  each  side  of  the  tower,  in  many  cases 
almost  obliterating  its  mediaeval  character,  so  com- 
pletely was  it  disguised. 

Hutton  John  is  most  beautifully  situated,  with 
glorious  views ;  and  through  a  meadow  quite  close 
to  the  house  runs  a  stream — the  Dacre  beck — a 
"petulant,  prattling  beck," quite  in  harmony  with  its 
severe  surroundings.  The  Pele  tower  at  Hutton 
John  is  of  very  early  date,  rectangular,  castellated, 
and  made  of  rubble,  the  walls  in  many  places  being 
quite  eight  feet  thick.  A  wing  was  built  on  to  the 
north  side  of  the  tower  by  "  Andrew  and  Dorothie 
his  wife,  A.D.  1662,"  so  the  inscription  runs,  the 
same  wall  bearing  the  arms  of  the  Hudlestons  and 
Flemings  impaled.  This  wing  has  a  very  fine 
appearance  and  is  built  in  the  Italian  style,  which 


246        A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

was  coming  into  fashion  in  James  I.'s  reign. 
Carved  on  the  gable  wing  appears  the  emblem  of  a 
cross  patte",  with  the  date  1662,  and  the  words 
underneath  : 

"  Hoc  Signo  Vinces." 

Most  of  the  windows  are  as  late  as  the 
eighteenth  century,  but  the  old  heart-shaped  ones 
have  great  decorative  value. 

The  house  with  its  additions  forms  the  letter  L, 
and  on  three  sides  lie  the  Gardens.  On  the  right 
of  the  house,  is  what  must  have  been  without  doubt 
the  old  "  Pleasaunce " — now  called  the  Dutch 
Garden. 

Over  the  entrance  door  leading  into  it  (in  the 
high  wall)  stands  a  finely  carved  lintel,  with  three 
shields  and  the  crest  of  the  Hudlestons,  with  the 
following  words  : — 

ANDREAS   HUDLESTON   HOC  FIERI   FECIT 
SOLI   DEO   HONOR   ET   GLORIA   1662. 

The  Garden  is  square  and  is  enclosed  by  three 
walls  (including  the  wall  of  the  house),  and  has  a 
high  Yew  hedge  pierced  with  archways  leading  to 
the  grass  Terrace  beyond.  This  little  Garden  is 
laid  out  with  Box-edged  borders,  filled  with  flowers. 
The  use  of  that  popular  edging  always  recalls  John 
Evelyn's  remarks  as  to  its  value.  "  Box  is  infinitely 
to  be  preferred  for  bordering  of  Flowerbeds,  and  flat 


BUTTON  JOHN  247 

Embroideries  to  any  sweeter  less  lasting  Shrub 
whatever,  subject  after  a  year  or  two  to  grow  dry, 
sticky,  and  full  of  gaps ;  which  Box  is  so  little 
obnoxious  to,  that  having  all  seasons,  it  needs  not  to 
be  renewed  for  twenty  years  together,  nor  kept  in 
order  with  the  Gar  den- sheers,  above  once  or  twice  a 
year.  But  whilst  I  speak  in  favour  of  this  sort  of 
edging,  I  only  recommend  the  use  of  the  Dutch  Box 
(rarely  found  growing  in  England)  which  is  z.pumil 
dwarf  kind,  with  a  smaller  Leaf  and  slow  of  growth, 
and  which  needs  not  to  be  kept  above  two  Inches 
high,  and  yet  grows  so  close  that  Beds  bordered 
with  Boards,  keep  not  the  Earth  in  better  order ; 
besides  the  Pleasantness  of  the  Verdue  is  incom- 
parable." In  the  angle  of  the  two  walls  in  the 
Dutch  Garden  is  a  Columbarium  or  Dovecote, 
without  which  few  old  houses  were  thought  com- 
plete, but,  as  a  rule,  they  were  not  placed  in  the 
Garden,  for  though  a  picturesque  and  delightful 
feature,  they  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  Garden 
Architecture.  Walking  past  the  house  on  the 
left  side  of  the  entrance,  there  is  a  stretch  of 
grass,  planted  with  hardy  shrubs,  which  the  soil 
suits  admirably. 

From  here  the  Kitchen  Garden  is  easily  reached  ; 
it  is  a  typical  old-fashioned  one  entirely  enclosed  by 
walls,  and  ought  to  be  an  excellent  Fruit  Garden,  for 
which  it  is  chiefly  used. 

On  entering  the  Kitchen  Garden,  a  herbaceous 


248        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

border  is  seen  running  straight  up  the  centre,  making 
in  summer  a  dazzling  line  of  colour,  the  border 
being  filled  with  a  clever  selection  of  plants  all  care- 
fully thought  out  as  to  colour.  A  distinct  note  in 
this  Garden  is  the  attention  given  to  the  colour 
scheme,  upon  which  too  rruch  thought  can  scarcely 
be  expended.  Many  Gardens  are  quite  spoilt  by 
the  haphazard  planting  of  otherwise  beautiful  flowers. 
This  disregard  of  the  combination  of  colour  produces 
a  most  unfortunate  result,  very  unpleasing  to  a 
cultivated  eye. 

Snapdragon  {Antirrhinum)  of  every  shade, 
beautifully  blended,  is  the  most  noticeable  flower 
in  this  centre  Herbaceous  border,  being  planted 
right  up  the  whole  length  in  such  luxurious  masses 
that  the  soil  it  grows  in  is  entirely  hidden  from 
view  by  this  perfect  bank  of  colour. 

Snapdragon  looks  most  decorative  when  grown 
on  old  walls  and  buildings  such  as  Hutton  John. 
Being  a  popular  flower,  there  are  now  more 
varieties  than  of  old ;  those  of  plain,  brilliant 
colours  should  always  be  chosen.  Perhaps  the 
favourite  is  Antirrhinum  majus. 

June  and  July  are  the  months  for  many  old- 
fashioned  flowers — the  Carnation,  Gillyflower,  or 
Sops-in-wine,  to  give  it  the  pretty  old-world 
names,  being  the  most  loved  of  all,  with  its  delicate, 
sweet  scent.  This  universal  favourite  flourishes 
splendidly  in  this  Cumberland  soil  (which  is  a  light 


BUTTON  JOHN  249 

red  loam)  and  is  to  be  seen  everywhere  in  this 
Garden  in  perfect  beauty.  The  old  crimson  Clove 
Carnation  which  now  can  be  procured  in  many 
shades,  should  be  seen  in  every  Garden,  being  a 
most  necessary  flower,  grown  in  groups  or  masses 
arranged  with  other  well-chosen  blooms. 

Great  character  is  given  to  the  Garden  at  Hutton 
John  by  the  arrangement  of  the  Terrace,  which, 
though  simple,  carries  with  it  charm  and  dignity. 
Whoever  designed  this  Terrace  can  claim  to  have 
realised  the  exact  note  of  colour  and  the  correct 
Garden  feature  required  by  the  old  house.  Raised 
somewhat  from  the  Lawn  beneath  by  a  low  Terrace 
wall,  is  the  wide  grass  Terrace  on  which  are  planted, 
equidistant,  six  fantastically  shaped  Yew  trees. 
Huge,  solemn,  and  severe  they  stand,  their  dark 
green  foliage  contrasting  deliciously  with  the  cold 
grey  background  of  the  old  house  behind. 

These  Yews  are  such  a  marvellously  impressive 
sight  in  their  severe  beauty,  that  even  Pope,  that 
railer  against  Garden  extravagancies,  would  have 
had  to  acknowledge  them  the  exception  which 
proved  the  rule. 

The  age  of  these  beautiful  trees  is  said  to  be 
three  hundred  years,  and  they  are  named  "  Queen 
Elizabeth's  Maids  of  Honour."  The  lovely  view  of 
the  Ullswater  hills,  seen  in  the  distance,  greatly 
adds  to  the  charm  of  the  Terrace. 

This  steep    ridge  of  hills  is  called   the    "High 


250        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Street"  from  an  old  Roman  road  that  runs  along 
the  top. 

Against  the  Terrace  wall  pink  Roses  are  planted, 
climbing  along  it  in  graceful  trails,  growing  from 
a  bed  of  pale  mauve  Violas. 

The  Garden  gradually  slopes  down  from  this 
Terrace  to  a  grass  Lawn — grass  as  green  as  that  in 
the  Emerald  Isle,  owing  its  beauty  to  the  fact  that 
this  part  of  the  country  has  the  heaviest  rainfall  in 
England.  On  this  Lawn  there  are  to  be  found 
borders  of  different  Herbaceous  plants,  artistically 
arranged  with  regard  to  combinations  of  colour, 
such  as  pale  and  dark  mauve.  In  the  Beds  are 
Monkshood,  Larkspur,  Wormwood  (Artemisia), 
Phloxes,  and  dainty  Clematis  trained  quite  low  to 
cover  the  ground  with  a  soft  veil  of  mauve  blossoms. 

Though  there  may  be  a  doubt  as  to  the  suitability 
of  gay  colour  on  this  Lawn,  it  must  be  acknowledged 
that  it  has  been  placed  there  with  great  skill,  and 
with  a  distinctly  decorative  result. 

Another  Terrace  wall  stands  at  the  edge  of  this 
sloping  Lawn,  hidden  by  a  very  handsome  Fuchsia 
hedge.  The  value  and  beauty  of  Fuchsias  in  a 
Garden  is  seldom  realised,  though  they  are 
among  the  most  graceful  of  plants,  with  their 
crimson  stems  and  hanging  flowers,  called  by 
children  "painted  manikins."  A  Fuchsia  hedge 
is  quite  a  possession  in  any  Garden  ;  and  it  is  a 
great  pity  that  more  are  not  planted,  especially  as 


THE    YEWS    AT    HUTTOX   JOHN,   CUMBERLAND 


HUTTON  JOHN  251 

some  kinds  of  Fuchsias  are  quite  hardy  plants  and 
will  thrive  without  any  care  or  trouble.  Beyond  this 
hedge,  through  a  meadow,  runs  the  Dacre  beck, 
adding  in  no  small  measure  to  the  delight  of  the 
Garden  by  its  rippling  chant. 

On  the  left-hand  side  of  the  grass  Terrace  in  front 
of  the  house,  a  flight  of  steps  leads  into  a  Shrubbery, 
and  then  into  a  little  Rock  Garden,  filled  with  the 
usual  rock-living  plants,  such  as  Rockfoil  (Saxi- 
fraga),  Purple  Rock  Cress  (Aubrietia\  Campion 
(Lychnis],  and  Stonecrop  (Sedum). 

The  old  house  at  Hutton  John  stands  in  such 
a  commanding  relation  to  the  Garden  that  a  little 
of  its  history  and  that  of  its  owners  is  distinctly 
necessary  to  the  complete  appreciation  of  this 
wonderful  old  place. 

In  Edward  1 1 1. 's  reign,  "  William  de  Hoten  John 
held  this  manor  of  Hoten  John  by  the  barony 
of  Greystock  by  homage  and  2os.  coinage,"  and 
there  is  evidence  among  the  original  documents  at 
Hutton  John  of  the  existence  of  the  De  Hotens  as 
far  back  as  1282,  while  it  may  be  presumed  that 
parts  of  the  Pele  tower  are  quite  as  old  as  the 
thirteenth  century.  In  fact,  some  people  consider 
it  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  kingdom.  The  name 
Hutton  John  originated  most  probably  owing  to 
the  family  descending  from  a  younger  brother  of 
that  name ;  but  who  this  John  was  is  not  actually 
known. 


252        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  property  remained  in  the  family  till  Cuthbert 
Hutton  died.  His  wife  Elizabeth,  the  daughter 
of  Sir  Robert  Bellingham,  had  been  educated 
with  Lady  Katherine  Parr  at  Kendal  Castle,  and 
when  Henry  VIII.  made  Katherine  his  sixth  wife, 
she  sent  for  Elizabeth  to  be  "  the  Mother  of  the 
Maids "  at  Court.  The  Princess  Mary  stood 
godmother  to  Elizabeth  Hutton's  daughter  Marie, 
to  whom  Hutton  John  passed,  as  her  brother 
Thomas  died  childless.  In  1564  Marie  Hutton 
married  Andrew,  younger  son  of  Sir  John  Hud- 
leston,  of  Millum  Castle,  and  Hutton  John,  with 
its  beautiful  Yews  and  grass  Terraces,  has  remained 
in  the  Hudleston's  possession  ever  since. 

Andrew  Hudleston  was  an  officer  in  the  body- 
guard of  Edward  VI.  and  his  two  sisters,  Queen 
Mary  and  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  rejoiced  in  the 
possession  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters ;  one 
of  his  sons,  John,  stands  out  in  the  annals  of  the 
family  as  a  most  romantic  figure. 

Educated  at  Douai,  in  Flanders,  as  a  priest,  on 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  volunteered  to 
serve  under  Sir  John  Preston.  After  the  battle 
of  Worcester,  John  Hudleston  helped  to  save 
Charles  II.'s  life  by  hiding  him  from  the  rebels 
in  an  Oak  tree  at  Boscobel — ever  after  called 
the  "  Royal  Oak."  Boscobel  possessed  such  a 
fascinating  Garden,  that  when  it  was  thought 
safe  Charles  left  his  leafy  hiding-place  ;  as  Thomas 


HUTTON  JOHN  253 

Blount  says  in  his  quaint  little  book  :  "  His 
Majesty,  finding  himself  now  in  hopeful  security, 
spent  some  part  of  the  Lord's  Day  in  a  pretty 
Arbor  in  Boscobel  Garden,  which  grew  upon  a 
mount,  and  wherein  there  was  a  stone  table  and 
seats  about  it.  In  this  place  he  passed  away  some 
time  in  reading,  and  commended  the  place  for  its 
retirement."  Perhaps  it  was  on  that  day  that 
Hudleston  gave  the  King  a  treatise  upon  the 
Romish  Church,  which  so  impressed  Charles  that 
ever  afterwards  he  belonged,  in  heart,  to  that 
Communion. 

Having  hidden  Charles  for  some  days,  John 
Hudleston  and  other  friends  successfully  disguised 
him,  and  he  made  his  escape  to  France.  Some 
say  the  faithful  priest  travelled  with  him,  and 
suffered  many  privations  through  his  devotion. 

At  the  Restoration  Charles  rewarded  John 
Hudleston,  and  he  was  exempt  from  the  terribly 
severe  laws  against  Papists. 

Years  later,  when  the  priest  had  become  a 
Benedictine  monk,  and  the  King  was  dying,  his 
friends,  knowing  his  real  views  upon  religion,  were 
anxious  to  get  a  priest  to  confess  him  secretly  and 
administer  the  last  Sacrament.  Strangely  enough, 
the  priest  found  was  none  other  than  the  faithful 
John  Hudleston.  The  King  recognised  him  at 
once,  and  said,  "You  have  saved  me  twice,  my  body 
after  the  battle  of  Worcester,  and  now  my  soul !  " 


254        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

There  are  many  interesting  portraits  of  the 
priest ;  the  one  at  Hutton  John  was  painted  by 
Housman  in  1685. 

All  the  Hudlestons  suffered  cruelly  at  Crom- 
well's hands  on  account  of  their  loyalty  to  the  two 
Charles's,  and  this  branch  of  the  family  lost  every 
possession  but  Hutton  John,  and  even  this  was 
many  years  "under  sequestration,"  and  not  returned 
to  them  till  Charles  II.  became  King. 

It  was  the  grandson  of  Marie,  the  heiress  of 
Hutton  John,  who  married  Dorothy  Fleming,  and 
added  to  the  old  house,  having  his  name  and  that 
of  his  wife  carved  on  the  wings.  Their  son  was 
the  first  Protestant  in  the  family,  a  man  of  dis- 
tinction and  a  great  admirer  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange — in  fact,  he  was  the  initiator  of  the  first 
hostilities  against  King  James.  Hearing,  in 
October,  1688,  that  a  ship  loaded  with  arms,  for 
a  garrison  at  Carlisle,  had  put  in  at  Workington, 
he  rode  over  and  consulted  Sir  James  Lowther 
(also  a  keen  supporter  of  the  Dutch  William)  how 
the  ships  could  be  gained  for  the  use  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  his  landing  in  England  being  daily 
expected.  They  armed  their  servants  and  tenants 
and  marched  secretly  during  the  night  to  be  in 
readiness  for  the  attack  in  the  early  morning. 
They  were  successful,  the  crew  quickly  surrender- 
ing. William  III.  was  delayed  by  storms  from 
landing  at  the  time  he  was  expected,  which  delay 


HUTTON  JOHN  255 

caused  Sir  James  Lowther  and  Andrew  Hudleston 
a  few  days  of  great  anxiety.  But  when  William  at 
last  arrived  in  England,  their  prompt  action  received 
ample  recognition. 

Though  Hutton  John  possesses  an  ample  share 
of  beauty  of  its  own,  it  must  ever  gain  a  reflected 
glory  from  being  near  the  homes  of  so  many  great 
men.  Wordsworth  has  immortalised  the  surround- 
ing country  in  his  verse.  Southey,  Coleridge,  and 
De  Quincey  lived  amongst  its  glories,  while  Gray, 
always  somewhat  coldly  severe  towards  most 
beauties  of  Nature,  seems  to  have  appreciated  the 
exquisite  pearl-like  shades  in  the  light  and  shadow 
of  the  country  near  Hutton  John.  He  alludes 
thus  to  the  old  place  :  "  Farther  on  appears 
Hatton  St.  John,  a  castle-like  old  mansion  of 
Mr.  Huddleston  " — but  not  a  word  of  the  Garden, 
with  its  distinctive  feature,  the  old  Yews  on  the 
Terrace,  which  are  shown  in  their  full  beauty  in 
the  water-colour  drawing  of  Hutton  John. 

Though  "  comparisons  are  odious,"  it  is  interest- 
ing to  compare  old  Gardens  with  new,  the 
comparison  generally  resulting  in  the  conviction 
that  modern  Gardens  lack  style,  both  in  design 
and  effect.  The  rage  for  flower  growing  has 
produced  glorious  specimens,  but  in  many  cases 
has  banished  any  real  arrangement  or  plan  of 
design,  without  which  no  Garden  can  possess  any 
true  repose  or  charm.  In  old  Gardens  there  was  a 


256        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

place  for  everything,  but  in  many  new  Gardens 
there  is  everything  with  no  allotted  place !  and, 
without  a  colour  scheme  and  a  definite  plan,  a 
Garden,  as  a  whole,  can  only  produce  a  feeling  of 
decided  chaos.  Then  it  is  seldom  that  a  modern 
Garden  creates  a  leading  feature,  like  the  Yews 
at  Hutton  John — modern  ideas  being  opposed  to 
artificial  effects — such  as  Topiary  work — preferring 
less  design  and  character,  and  in  their  place 
gorgeous  specimens  of  beautiful  flowers. 


KNOLE,    KENT 


"  While,  with  slow  eyes,  we  these  survey, 
And  on  each  pleasant  footstep  stay, 
We  opportunely  may  relate 
The  progress  of  this  house's  fate. 

"No  white  nor  red  was  ever  seen 
So  amorous  as  this  lovely  green." 

ANDREW  MARVEL 


XIII 

KNOLE,    KENT 

1P\R.  JOHNSON'S  words,  -the  inaudible  and 
i-'  noiseless  foot  of  time,"  flash  across  the 
memory  at  the  first  sight  of  Knole  Park — standing 
like  a  little  walled  town  amid  an  undulating  Park. 

Time  has  touched  the  old  place  lightly,  yet  its 
age  is  manifest  on  every  side  ;  many  of  these  grand 
stone  walls  stood  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when 
castles  were  strongholds  for  the  community  within, 
and  every  inmate,  from  chaplain  to  scullion,  had  an 
allotted  place  at  the  great  dining-table. 

Those  were  stirring  times,  and  if  the  walls  of 
Knole  could  speak,  many  a  brave  deed  of  the  past 
would  be  extolled.  Alas !  now  it  remains  a  body 
without  a  spirit,  as  it  were,  drear  and  cold,  for  the 
light  of  its  glory  has  fled — the  bustle  and  life  of 
cardinals  and  princes  with  their  retinues  have 
vanished  with  the  "noiseless  foot  of  time." 

Walpole's  graphic  pen  describes  lovingly  and 
sadly  its  wonderful  past,  and  the  feeling  of  desertion 

359 


260        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

and  loneliness  which  struck  him  on  visiting  the 
great  palace.  "  I  came  to  Knole,  and  that  was 
a  medley  of  various  feelings !  Elizabeth  and 
Burleigh  and  Buckhurst,  and  then  Charles  and 
Anne,  Dorset  and  Pembroke  and  Sir  Edward 
Sackville :  and  then  a  more  engaging  Dorset 
and  Villiers  and  Prior,  and  then  the  old  Duke 
and  Duchess  and  Lady  Betty  Germaine  and  the 
Court  of  George  II.!  The  place  is  stripped  of 
its  Beeches  and  honours,  and  has  neither  beauty 
nor  prospects. 

"  The  house,  extensive  as  it  is,  seemed  dwindled 
to  the  front  of  a  college  and  has  the  silence  and 
solitude  of  one.  It  wants  the  cohorts  of  retainers, 
and  the  bustling  jollity  of  the  old  nobility  to 
disperse  the  gloom.  I  worship  all  its  faded  splen- 
dour and  enjoy  its  preservation  and  could  have 
wandered  over  it  for  hours  with  satisfaction." 

Something  of  the  story  of  Knole  is  told  in 
these  words  of  Walpole,  but  to  realise  fully  the 
various  phases  the  House  and  Gardens  have  gone 
through,  the  pages  of  history  must  be  turned  still 
further  back.  Old  books  state  that  in  King  John's 
reign  the  manors  of  Knole,  Kemsing,  and  Scale 
were  in  the  possession  of  Baldwin  de  Betun,  Earl  of 
Albemarle,  who  gave  his  daughter  and  estates  to 
William  Mareschal,  Earl  of  Pembroke. 

Pembroke's  brother,  who  succeeded  to  the  title 
and  estates,  took  part  in  the  rebellion  against 


KNOLE  261 

King  John.  "  The  patriotic  efforts  of  Langton, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,"  Hume  says,  "were 
warmly  seconded  by  William  Earl  of  Pembroke; 
and  to  these  two  distinguished  men  the  English 
nation  is  under  the  deepest  obligations  for  the 
foundation  of  their  liberties." 

Pembroke's  "  patriotic  efforts "  cost  him  his 
estates,  which  John  granted  to  an  adventurer, 
who  was  later  banished  in  disgrace  by  Henry  III., 
and  Pembroke  came  by  his  own  again.  Dying 
without  an  heir,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew, 
Roger  Bigod,  who,  in  turn,  left  the  estates  to  the 
Grandisons.  In  this  last  family  they  remained  for 
some  generations,  during  which  time  the  property 
was  divided  and  the  manor  of  Knole  transferred 
to  Geoffrey  de  Say,  "Admiral  of  all  the  King's 
Fleets." 

Records  do  not  appear  to  mention  how  the 
manor  and  house  of  Knole  passed  away  from  the 
De  Say  family ;  it  was  probably  by  marriage. 

After  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  the  owner  of  Knole 
was  forced  to  sell  the  greater  part  of  his  estates. 
The  Manor  of  Knole,  with  its  great  house,  had 
long  been  the  envy  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canter- 
bury, who  delighted  in  palaces  suitable  to  show  off 
to  advantage  their  splendid  retinues  ;  so  a  willing 
purchaser  was  found  in  Thomas  Bourchier,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  Thus  Knole  became  an 
ecclesiastical  Palace,  and  the  new  owner  enclosed 


262        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

the  House,  it  is  said,  in  a  great  Park.  Archbishop 
Bourchier's  successor,  Morton — who  left  such  a 
beautiful  life  record  behind  him  "  of  being  born 
for  the  good  of  England" — added  extensively  to 
Knole  till  it  was,  indeed,  a  Palace  worthy  of  a 
great  Cardinal  of  the  Church  and  Chancellor  of 
England. 

Henry  VII.  paid  Archbishop  Morton  a  Royal 
visit  at  Knole,  and  the  old  walls  and  courtyards 
must  have  resounded  with  the  noise  and  clatter  of 
horses  and  men-at-arms. 

Archbishop  Morton,  priest,  statesman,  architect, 
and  patron  of  every  art,  died  at  Knole,  the  spot  which 
shared  his  affections  with  Hatfield  of  earlier  days. 

His  successor,  William  Warham,  is  chiefly 
remembered  for  being  a  friend  of  Erasmus,  who 
wrote  :  "  Had  I  found  such  a  patron  in  my  youth, 
I,  too,  might  have  been  counted  among  the  fortu- 
nate ones." 

These  two  friends  were  both  enthusiastic  over 
the  "  new  learning."  Green  gives  a  most  fasci- 
nating picture  in  the  "  History  of  the  English 
People"  of  the  life  the  Archbishop  led:  "In  the 
simplicity  of  his  life  the  Archbishop  offered  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  luxurious  nobles  of  the  time. 
He  cared  nothing  for  the  pomps,  the  sensual  plea- 
sures, the  hawking  and  dicing  in  which  they  too 
commonly  indulged.  An  hour's  pleasant  reading, 
a  quiet  chat  with  some  learned  newcomer  alone 


KNOLE  263 

broke  the  endless  round  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
business.  Few  men  realised  so  thoroughly  as  War- 
ham  the  new  conception  of  an  intellectual  and  moral 
equality  before  which  the  old  social  distinctions  of 
the  world  were  to  vanish  away." 

Thomas  Cranmer,  a  very  different  man,  occupied 
the  see  of  Canterbury  after  Warham's  death.  Cran- 
mer played  vigorously  into  Henry's  hands  over  the 
royal  divorce,  and  has  not  been  left  unscathed  by 
comment  for  diminishing  the  lands  of  his  see  by 
giving  the  King  Knole  Palace,  which  Henry  had 
always  coveted.  A  quaintly  written  letter  from 
Cranmer 's  secretary  attempts  to  vindicate  his 
master  from  the  charge  of  pandering  to  the  King's 
whim.  "As  touching  the  exchange,"  urges  the 
secretary,  "  men  ought  to  consider  with  whom  he 
had  to  do,  especially  with  such  a  Prince,  as  would 
not  be  bridled  nor  gainsaid  in  any  of  his  requests. 
My  Lord,  minded  to  have  retained  Knole  unto 
himself,  said  that  it  was  too  small  a  house  for  his 
Majesty.  '  Marry,'  said  the  King,  '  I  will  rather 
have  it  than  this  house  (meaning  Otford),  for  it 
standeth  on  a  better  soil.  This  house  standeth 
low  and  is  rheumatic,  like  unto  Croydon,  where  I 
could  never  be  without  sickness  ;  and  as  for  Knole, 
it  standeth  on  a  sound,  perfect,  wholesome  ground, 
and  if  I  should  make  abode  there,  as  I  do  surely 
mind  to  do,  now  and  then,  I  will  live  at  Knole,  and 
most  of  my  house  shall  live  at  Otford.'  And  so 


264        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

by  this  means  both  houses  were  delivered  up  into 
the  King's  hands." 

Thus  the  Church  lost  by  gift  one  of  her  most 
beautiful  palaces,  but  perhaps  it  is  only  fair  to  the 
imperious  Henry  to  state  that  some  writers  say  he 
paid  handsomely  for  his  new  house. 

Edward  VI.  gave  Knole  to  the  unscrupulous 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  sold  part  of  the 
manor,  reserving  "  the  house  of  Knole,  its 
Orchards  and  Gardens  " — this  being  the  first  men- 
tion of  any  Gardens  attached  to  Knole.  "  Filled 
with  the  fumes  of  ambition,"  the  Duke  attempted, 
at  Edward's  death,  to  put  his  daughter-in-law,  the 
Lady  Jane  Grey,  upon  the  throne ;  his  dreams, 
however,  were  short-lived,  and  he  was  attainted 
of  high  treason  and  executed. 

Knole,  after  this  event,  passed  again  into  the 
sovereign's  possession,  and  Queen  Mary,  being  a 
true  daughter  of  Rome,  gave  back  to  the  Church 
the  gift  of  Cranmer,  and  it  became  the  Palace  of 
Reginald  Pole,  Cardinal-Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
(a  man  of  whom  history  has  given  such  widely 
diverse  accounts)  ;  he  is  said  to  have  been  much 
attached  to  Knole,  and  died  there,  strangely 
enough,  on  the  same  day  as  his  unhappy  Queen. 

The  reformed  religion,  proving,  in  the  eyes  of 
Elizabeth,  the  better  policy  for  the  good  of  her 
people,  Knole  became  her  property  and  severed  for 
ever  its  connection  with  the  Church,  which  had 


KNOLE  265 

added  so  considerably  to  its  beauty  and  magnifi- 
cence. Elizabeth  granted  Knole  and  its  lands  to 
Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  who,  however, 
surrendered  them  in  the  eighth  year  of  her  reign. 

The  next  name  connected  with  Knole,  and  the 
one  that  is  generally  linked  with  the  fine  old  place, 
is  Sackville.  The  Sackvilles  were  of  an  old  family 
of  Norman  extraction,  a  race  renowned  for  wit  and 
wisdom.  Walpole  calls  Thomas  Sackville  the  owner 
of  Knole,  "the  patriarch  of  a  race  of  genius  and 
wit."  Thomas  Sackville  was  the  only  son  of  Sir 
Richard  Sackville  (a  kinsman  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
through  her  mother  Anne  Boleyn)  and  was  born  at 
Buckhurst,  in  Sussex,  in  1536  ;  he  studied  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  and  was  a  distinguished  scholar  in 
Latin  and  English  verse.  Later  he  entered  at  the 
Inner  Temple.  Literature  places  him  in  an  unique 
position,  viz.,  that  of  being  the  joint  author  of  the 
first  tragedy  in  the  English  language  —  Thomas 
Morton  having  written  the  first  three  acts,  and 
Sackville  the  fourth  and  fifth.  "  Ferrex  and 
Porrex,"  or  "  Gorboduc  "  as  it  was  oftener  called, 
was  written  in  the  then  prevailing  style,  derived 
from  the  school  of  Seneca  in  England.  Sir  Philip 
Sidney  speaks  highly  of  this  tragedy  in  his 
"  Defence  of  Poesy  "  :  "  '  Gorboduc,'  which,  notwith- 
standing as  it  is  full  of  stately  speeches  and  well- 
sounding  phrases  climbing  to  the  height  of  Seneca, 
his  style,  and  is  full  of  notable  morality,  which  it 


266        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

doeth  most  delightfully  teach,  and  so  obtain  the 
very  end  of  poesy." 

The  tragedy  was  written  when  Sackville  was 
only  twenty-five;  he  took  his  plot  from  "The 
History  of  the  British  Kings,"  by  Geoffry  of 
Monmouth.  Each  act  began  with  a  dumb  show 
and  ended  with  a  chorus  (save  the  last) ;  the  former 
custom  was  very  usual  in  the  early  English  drama, 
and  gave  scope  for  a  series  of  pageants  greatly 
appreciated  by  the  audience. 

The  first  authorised  edition  of  "Gorboduc" 
appeared  in  1571,  but  the  play  was  performed 
before  Queen  Elizabeth  by  the  gentlemen  of  the 
Inner  Temple  at  Whitehall  in  January,  1561. 

Court  entertainments  were  nearly  as  dear  to 
Elizabeth  as  were  her  magnificent  progresses 
through  England,  and  although  she  was  forced  to 
curtail  the  expense  of  her  amusements,  they  were 
ever  costly  affairs,  though  nothing  to  the  splendour 
and  beauty  of  the  masques  of  later  date  given  by 
James  I.  and  Charles  I. 

Through  the  recommendation  of  Pope,  one  of 
Sackville's  greatest  admirers,  "Gorboduc,"  the  first 
of  English  tragedies,  was  revived  at  Drury  Lane 
in  1736,  oddly  enough  with  marvellous  success,  as 
it  is  a  tedious  and  gory  play  at  best.  It  is  curious 
to  note  that  the  first  tragedy  was  produced  and 
the  first  comedy  printed  when  Shakespeare  was  a 
child  of  a  few  years  old ;  therefore  it  might  prac- 


KNOLE  267 

tically  be  said  that  the  English  drama  and  the 
world's  greatest  dramatist  were  born  simulta- 
neously. Sackville  is  remembered  by  another 
work  of  more  interesting  character,  the  finest  parts 
of  "  The  Mirror  of  Magistrates,"  a  collection  of 
poems,  which,  according  to  J.  A.  Symonds,  "has 
justly  been  said  to  connect  the  work  of  Lydgate 
with  the  work  of  Spenser." 

Besides  playing  such  an  important  part  in  letters, 
Sackville's  life  is  bound  up  in  the  history  of  his 
day.  Wild  and  extravagant  in  his  youth,  Elizabeth 
severely  reproved  him  and  declared  "she  would 
not  know  him  till  he  knew  himself."  When  he 
gained  this  knowledge  and  deserted  pleasures  and 
poetry  for  politics,  the  Queen  extended  to  him 
her  royal  favour  and  he  was  rapidly  promoted. 

At  Lord  Burleigh's  death,  Sackville  was  made 
Lord  High  Treasurer,  and  created  Lord  Buck- 
hurst,  later  by  James  I.  Earl  of  Dorset.  He 
restored  and  greatly  added  to  Knole.  The 
beautifully  worked  lead  water-spouts  bear  his 
initials  and  the  dates  1605  and  1607.  To  such 
an  extent  did  he  impress  the  Jacobean  style  on 
the  old  house  that  it  is  often  forgotten  that  the 
oldest  part  dates  back  to  Roger  Bigod ;  but  it 
is  chiefly  Tudor,  the  Archbishops  Bourchier  and 
Morton  having  added  to  and  restored  it  during 
that  period.  The  house  at  this  time,  with  all 
its  stables,  outhouses,  and  buildings,  is  said  to 


268        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

have  covered  five  acres  of  land.  In  no  old  book 
of  this  date  is  there  a  detailed  account  of  any 
Garden  attached  to  the  house  at  Knole,  yet 
Gardens  there  must  have  been. 

Fancy,  that  fickle  fairy,  that  may  be  called  forth 
at  will,  can  paint  vividly  the  delightful  charm  that 
must  have  lingered  over  the  green  Box-edged 
bowers,  and  gay  knots  of  flowers,  which  lay  hidden 
centuries  ago  behind  the  high  grey  walls  that  still 
encircle  the  Garden  at  Knole. 

The  fifth  Earl  of  Dorset  made  many  improve- 
ments in  the  house  and  Park,  living  a  great  deal 
at  Knole;  he  married  an  heiress,  Frances  Cranfield, 
and  had  her  arms  inpaled  with  his  own  on  the 
Garden  gates  and  Sundial  as  well  as  in  other 
places. 

The  house  of  Dorset  has  ever  been  celebrated 
for  its  wit  and  genius,  though,  according  to  the  old 
rhyme,  these  good  gifts  invariably  skip  a  generation. 

"Folly  and  sense  in  Dorset's  race, 
Alternately  do  run  ! " 

Of  all  the  witty  Sackvilles  the  wittiest  was 
Charles,  sixth  Earl  of  Dorset,  "  who  was  the  first 
gentleman  in  the  voluptuous  court  of  Charles  II. 
and  the  gloomy  one  of  King  William,"  a  boon 
companion  of  Villiers,  Sedley,  and  Rochester — the 
worst  of  profligates  but  the  sweetest  of  singers. 


KNOLE  269 

14 1  know  not  how  it  is,  but  my  Lord  Dorset  can  do 
anything,  and  yet  is  never  to  blame,"  said  Lord 
Rochester,  in  those  early  days,  when  they  indulged 
in  all  the  mad,  riotous  pleasures  that  a  man  of  rank 
and  fashion  thought  necessary  at  the  time  of  the 
Restoration. 

Sackville  was  a  special  friend  of  Charles  II.,  and 
he  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  King  to  the  saucy 
orange-girl,  Nell  Gwyn,  when  she  was  his  own 
mistress. 

Evelyn,  in  his  Diary,  alludes  disapprovingly  to 
the  King's  intimacy  with  "pretty,  witty  Nell."  He 
writes  :  "His  Majesty's  Surveyor,  Mr.  Wren,  faith- 
fully promised  me  to  employ  him  (Gibbon),  I 
having  also  bespoke  his  Majesty  for  his  worke  at 
Windsor,  which  my  friend  Mr.  Man  the  architect 
there  was  going  to  alter  and  repaire  universally; 
for  on  the  next  day  I  had  a  fair  opportunity  of 
talking  to  his  Majesty  about  it,  in  the  lobby  next 
the  Queenes  side,  where  I  presented  him  with  some 
sheets  of  my  Historic.  I  thence  walk'd  with  him 
thro'  St.  James's  Parke  to  the  Garden,  where  I 
both  saw  and  heard  a  very  familiar  discourse 
between  .  .  .  (the  King)  and  Mrs.  Nellie  as  they 
cal'd  an  impudent  comedian,  she  looking  out  of  her 
Garden  on  a  Terrace  at  the  top  of  the  wall,  and 
.  .  .  (the  King)  standing  on  the  Greene  Walke 
under  it.  1  was  heartily  sorry  at  this  scene." 

When    the    Dutch    war    broke    out,    Sackville 


270        A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

joined  the  Duke  of  York  as  a  volunteer  and  was 
with  him  when  the  Dutch  ships  were  destroyed ;  it 
was  on  the  eve  of  this  battle  that  he  is  supposed  to 
have  written  his  graceful  ballad,  "  To  all  you  ladies 
now  at  land,"  showing  great  calmness  of  character 
as  well  as  wit,  The  following  verses — the  first  and 
the  last — give  some  idea  of  its  character  : — 

"To  all  you  ladies  now  at  land, 

We  men  at  sea  indite; 
But  first  would  have  you  understand, 

How  hard  it  is  to  write : 
The  Muses  now,  and  Neptune  too, 
We  must  implore  to  write  to  you — 

With  a  fa,  la,  la,  la,  la. 

And  now  we've  told  you  all  our  loves 

And  likewise  all  our  fears, 
In  hopes  this  declaration  moves 

Some  pity  for  our  tears : 
Let's  hear  of  no  inconstancy — 
We  have  too  much  of  that  at  sea — 

With  a  fa,  la,  la,  la,  la." 

Dr.  Johnson  comments  shrewdly  upon  this  story ; 
"  Seldom  any  splendid  story  is  wholly  true,  I  have 
heard,  from  the  late  Earl  of  Orrery,  who  was  likely 
to  have  good  hereditary  intelligence,  that  Lord 
Buckhurst  had  been  a  week  employed  upon  it,  and 
only  retouched  or  finished  it  on  the  memorable 
evening.  But  even  this,  whatever  it  may  subtract 
from  his  facility,  leaves  him  his  courage." 


KNOLE  271 

In  1674  Charles  Sackville  succeeded  to  the 
Middlesex  estates,  and  the  next  year  was  created 
Earl  of  Middlesex  and  Baron  Cranfield,  becoming 
the  sixth  Earl  of  Dorset  three  years  later. 

His  taste  turned  to  literature  rather  than  to 
politics,  and  he  was  justly  admired  for  his  Ana- 
creontic poetry.  He  was  an  honest  partisan  of 
James  II.,  till  he  found  that  monarch's  injustice, 
cruelty,  and  bigotry  past  enduring,  then  he  became 
a  friend  and  favourite  of  King  William's.  Dorset 
is  a  marvellous  case  of  universal  popularity.  There 
was  never  a  dissenting  voice  in  the  praise  showered 
upon  him. 

The  whole  literary  world  of  his  day  looked 
up  to  him  in  the  matter  of  letters ;  as  Prior 
(whose  genius  was  fostered  under  Dorset's  care) 
writes :  "  Dryden  determines  by  him,  under  the 
character  of  Eugenius,  as  to  the  laws  of  dramatic 
poetry.  Butler  owed  to  him  that  the  Court  tasted 
his  '  Hudibras  ' ;  Wycherly  that  the  Town  liked  his 
'  Plain  Dealer ' ;  and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
deferred  to  publish  his  '  Rehearsal '  till  he  was  sure 
that  my  Lord  Dorset  would  not  rehearse  upon  him 
again.  La  Fontaine  and  St.  Evremont  have  acknow- 
ledged that  he  was  a  perfect  master  in  the  beauty 
and  fineness  of  their  language  and  all  that  they  call 
Les  Belles  Lettres.  Nor  was  this  nicety  of  his 
judgement  confined  only  to  books  and  literature, 
but  was  the  same  in  statuary  and  painting. 


272        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Bernini  would  have  taken  his  opinion  upon  the 
beauty  and  attitude  of  a  figure,  and  King  Charles 
did  not  agree  with  Lely  that  my  Lady  Cleveland's 
picture  was  finished  till  it  had  the  approbation  of 
my  Lord  Buckhurst." 

Curiosity  searches  for  a  reason  for  the  popularity 
of  this  man — to  find  that  behind  his  gracefi 
manner  and  witty  tongue  beat  the  kindest  heart  in 
the  world.  "  He  was  a  friend  to  the  unfortunate, 
charitable  to  excess,  tender-hearted  to  a  fault,  and 
lastly,  most  wonderful  of  all,  a  man  of  letters  without 
envy !  " 

Knole,  in  his  day,  became  a  home  for  many  an 
unfortunate  man  of  letters  ;  Killigrew,  unscrupulous, 
gifted  and  witty,  and  also  D'Urfey  had  apartments 
there  for  some  years. 

Prior  and  Dryden  constantly  stayed  with  Dorset 
at  Knole,  and  their  poems  are  dedicated  to  him 
in  the  odiously  fulsome  fashion  of  the  day. 

Their  gorgeous,  generous  patron,  with  his  keen 
sense  of  humour,  must  have  seen  through  much  of 
this  servile  flattery,  and  no  wonder  that  his  true 
opinion  of  mankind  slipped  out  almost  unawares 
in  his  poetry  : — 


"  For  pointed  satires  I  would  Buckhurst  chuse, 
The  best  good  man  with  the  worst-natured  muse/ 


sang  Rochester  in  their  youthful  days,  and  till  the 


KNOLE  273 

hour  of  his  death  Dorset  had  the  world  of 
fashion  and  letters  at  his  feet,  captivated  by  his 
wit. 

Congreve,  who  visited  him  on  his  death-bed, 
declared  that  "  Dorset  slabbered  more  wit  dying 
than  most  men  living." 

Without  doubt  the  graceless,  graceful,  witty 
Charles  is  the  most  interesting  figure  among  the 
many  in  the  Sackville  Annals,  though  his  ances- 
tor, Thomas  Sackville,  holds  a  superior  place  in 
literature.  Scarce  a  mention  is  there  in  the  maze 
of  history  of  a  Garden  or  Park  at  Knole.  How- 
ever, in  1709  four  publishers,  Mortier,  Midwinter, 
Overton,  and  Smith,  brought  out  the  "  Britannia 
Illustrata,"  a  series  of  elaborate  views  of  the  great 
country  seats  of  England.  Very  fortunate  it  was 
that  these  and  other  designs  were  made,  as  other- 
wise no  record  would  have  remained  of  the  beauties 
that  the  ruthless  hands  of  Kent,  Brown,  and  others 
were  to  wipe  out  as  if  from  a  slate. 

Knyff  made  the  drawings,  and  they  were  en- 
graved on  copper  by  John  Kip,  who  was  born  at 
Amsterdam  in  1652,  and  came  over  to  England 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  Valuable  as  these 
engravings  are,  the  idea  sometimes  suggests  itself 
that  Knyff  perhaps  improved  upon  the  originals. 
In  any  case,  his  work  gives  a  wonderfully  clear 
conception  of  what  the  Gardens  of  that  period 
were  like. 


274        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

But  the  thought  of  their  destruction  causes 
genuine  distress — that  men,  from  a  so-called  love 
of  Nature,  should  have  dared  to  tamper  with  the 
Gardens  that  age  had  mellowed,  love  had  watched, 
and  Art  had  designed  with  such  symmetrical  grace 
— Gardens  which  possessed  a  fascination  seldom, 
if  ever,  found  in  those  based  on  imitations  of 
natural  landscapes.  In  Kip's  view  of  Knole  no 
Bowling  Green  is  to  be  seen,  but  twenty  years 
later,  in  Badeslade's  "  Views  of  Noblemen's  and 
Gentlemen's  Seats  in  the  County  of  Kent,"  in 
which  Knole  appears,  many  alterations  are  notice- 
able, among  them  a  Bowling  Green,  this  being  just 
about  the  time  when  the  game  was  most  fashion- 
able— though  Bowling  Greens  had  been  in  existence 
for  quite  a  hundred  years.  Many  old  English 
writers  mention  them  ;  William  Lawson  writes  in 
1618,  "it  shall  be  a  pleasure  to  have  a  Bowling 
Green." 

In  Badeslade's  engraving  of  the  west  prospect 
of  Knole  the  house  has  two  large  grass  Lawns 
in  front  of  it,  divided  by  a  wide  Avenue,  coming 
up  from  the  Park  beyond ;  and  trees  are  planted 
at  equal  distances  round  the  Lawn  inside  the 
railings.  To  the  right  of  the  entrance  tower  is 
a  handsome  gate  opening  on  to  a  Terrace  leading 
to  the  Bowling  Green,  which  is  oval  in  shape, 
and  stands  on  a  higher  level,  being  approached 
by  a  double  flight  of  steps.  Thick  Yew  hedges 


KNOLE  275 

surround  it,  with  two  Arbours  cut  in  the  hedge, 
on  the  west  and  east  sides.  A  vista  can  be 
seen  from  the  house  (which  stands  behind  some 
well-executed  Parterres)  across  the  Bowling  Green 
and  Plantation  beyond,  to  the  wide  gate,  with 
railings  on  each  side  let  into  the  wall,  which  divides 
the  Garden  from  the  Park. 

Badeslade  draws  attention,  in  a  note,  to  the 
Mount  in  the  Park,  "  it  having  a  very  fine  pros- 
pect." Further  west,  past  the  Bowling  Green, 
are  Cabinets  of  Verdure,  Statues,  Ponds,  Arbours, 
and  a  Wilderness. 

It  is  a  decided  change  to  turn  from  this  picture 
of  a  Formal  Garden  full  of  dainty  whims,  to  that 
which  fashion  has  allowed  to  remain  at  Knole. 

For  though  the  present  Garden  possesses  interest 
of  a  different  character,  there  must  always  remain  a 
feeling  of  regret  for  what  has  been  swept  away  in 
the  past. 

The  entrance  to  Knole  Park  is  through  an 
Avenue  of  Beeches,  which  runs  down  to  a  gate- 
way with  a  lodge  on  each  side.  From  there  the 
Avenue  stretches  up  a  wooded  hill,  and  then  sweeps 
through  a  green  sward  to  the  house,  a  magnificently 
triste  pile  of  grand  grey  stones. 

Passing  under  the  great  doorway  in  the  central 
tower,  the  Green  Court  comes  as  a  delightful  note 
of  colour  after  the  sombre  effect  of  the  great  house 
outside.  Old  walls  covered  with  creepers,  gay 


276        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

flowers  in  stone  Vases,  and  good  reproductions  in 
lead  of  antique  Statues,  all  help  to  make  up  the 
wonderful  effect  of  this  unique  Court. 

Passing  on  to  the  Stone  Court — the  beauty  of 
which  must  fill  any  one  with  admiration — and 
through  the  house,  the  great  hall  where  so 
many  celebrated  scenes  must  have  taken  place  is 
entered.  One  of  these  was  most  likely  the 
amusing  incident  which  occurred  when  Charles,  the 
witty  Earl  of  Dorset,  was  entertaining  some  boon 
companions,  amongst  whom  were  poets  and  wits. 
The  conversation  flagged,  and  Dorset  suggested 
that  every  one  should  write  an  impromptu,  and 
that  Dryden  should  decide  which  was  the  best. 
Every  one  worked  anxiously  and  hard  except  their 
host,  who  in  a  minute  threw  his  paper  down  on 
the  table.  At  length,  when  all  the  paper  lay 
beside  his,  Dryden  was  called  upon  to  decide, 
and  without  hesitating  gave  the  palm  to  Dorset ; 
an  opinion  endorsed  by  every  one  when  they 
read  the  following  :  "I  promise  to  pay  Mr.  John 
Dryden,  or  order,  ^500  on  demand. — DORSET." 

After  crossing  a  third  Court,  an  iron  gateway  is 
reached,  which  leads  to  the  Gardens  on  the  east 
side  of  the  house.  To  the  left  lies  an  old  Walled 
Garden  filled  with  a  mass  of  delicious  old  Lavender 
bushes  and  Fig  trees,  the  foliage  of  the  latter  pos- 
sessing greater  artistic  value  than  almost  any  other 
tree.  The  contrast  formed  by  the  large  glossy 


THE  LAVENDER  GARDEN,  KNOLE 


KNOLE  277 

Fig  leaves  with  the  sweet-smelling,  misty  mauve 
Lavender  is  a  very  delightful  one. 

The  water-colour  drawing  shows  this  charming 
little  Garden. 

Beyond  the  Lavender  bushes  is  shown  a  fasci- 
nating view  of  the  great  house,  with  its  dormer 
windows  and  red  gable  roofs,  rising  one  behind  the 
other  like  a  little  mediaeval  town. 

The  idea  in  old  days  of  reserving  one  Garden 
for  one  flower  cannot  be  too  much  admired :  it 
gives  a  delicacy  of  effect  and  also  the  charm  of 
individuality.  The  modern  fashion  of  long  borders 
stretching  away  into  the  distance,  and  filled  with 
flowers  regardless  of  colour  or  species — simply 
creating  a  gorgeous  display — is  very  wearisome, 
smaller  Gardens,  on  a  different  plan,  being  turned 
to  with  relief. 

On  leaving  the  Lavender  Garden  and  walking 
down  a  long  grass  path,  the  Sunk  Garden  is 
reached.  It  is  enclosed  by  a  wide  verge  of  grass, 
with  a  huge  bank  of  Rhododendrons  between  it 
and  the  high  wall  which  separates  the  Garden 
from  the  Park. 

Again,  these  Sunk  Gardens  are  seldom  made 
now,  when  panoramic  effects  are  desired,  and  the 
fascination  of  mystery  in  a  Garden  is  forgotten.  To 
come  across  a  little  Sunk  Garden,  filled  with  its  own 
special  flowers,  in  the  centre  of  which  lies  a  pool  of 
water,  as  at  Knole,  is  like  turning  over  a  page  in  a 


278        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

book  and  finding  a  new  chapter  containing  some- 
thing of  rare  interest.  Continuing  down  the  grass 
path  that  runs  parallel  with  the  Sunk  Garden 
(between  the  latter  and  the  Wilderness),  the  Park 
can  be  entered  through  handsome  gates. 

The  clumps  of  trees  and  gentle  undulations  which 
characterise  the  Park  impress  upon  the  beholder 
that  "  Capability  "  Brown,  or  some  such  hand,  had 
to  do  with  its  arrangement.  Walpole  in  1752  ex- 
presses his  views  about  the  Park  pretty  freely — 
as  indeed  he  does  on  any  subject,  but  more 
especially  on  Gardens  :  "  From  Sevenoaks  we 
went  to  Knole.  The  Park  is  sweet,  much  old 
Beech  and  an  immense  Sycamore  before  the  great 
gate,  that  makes  me  more  in  love  than  ever  with 
Sycamores.  A  vista  cut  through  the  wood  has  a 
delightful  effect  from  the  front,  but  there  are 
some  trumpery  fragments  of  Gardens  that  spoil 
the  view  from  the  State  apartments."  Evidently 
every  one  was  impressed  by  these  Beeches. 
Daniel  Defoe,  in  his  tour  through  England, 
notes  them :  "I  saw  Knole,  the  ancient  and 
magnificent  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Dorset.  It  is 
situate  in  the  middle  of  a  very  large  Park 
remarkable  for  its  fine  woods  and  spreading 
Beeches." 

Two  great  features  of  the  old  Garden  happily 
remain — its  old  Walls  and  green  Pa|hs.  The  first 
give  a  feeling  of  privacy  and  restfulness  not  to 


KNOLE  279 

be  found  in  a  Garden  which  boldly  overlooks  a 
Park.  And  the  constantly  recurring  vistas  to  be 
seen  down  the  long  grass  paths  make  a  remarkably 
striking  feature  in  the  Gardens  at  Knole,  always 
creating  a  sense  of  constant  expectation  of  some 
new  and  delightful  prospect.  From  the  little 
dormer  windows  of  the  suite  of  rooms  belonging 
in  old  days  to  Lady  Betty  Germaine  a  delightful 
glimpse  can  be  caught  of  one  of  these  green  grass 
Walks,  with  two  old  pillars,  the  remains  of  some 
vanished  gateway. 

The  quaint  little  suite  of  rooms  that  Lady 
Betty  Germaine  used  remain  unchanged ;  they 
have  not  shared  the  fate  of  the  Gardens  of  her 
day.  And  what  of  Lady  Betty,  whose  name  is 
so  often  associated  with  Knole  and  its  Gardens  ? 
Gossip  whispers  that,  plain  and  portionless,  she 
managed  to  dance  through  a  long  life  with  amazing 
gaiety,  if  not  wholly  without  misfortunes.  Lady 
Betty  was  the  daughter  of  Charles,  second  Earl 
of  Berkeley,  whose  chaplain  for  a  short  time  was  no 
other  than  Swift.  Between  Lady  Betty  and  the 
author  of  "  A  Tale  of  a  Tub  "  a  strange  friendship 
sprang  up,  a  friendship  which  lasted  the  incongruous 
pair  through  life,  only  broken  now  and  then  by  the 
mad  irascibility  of  the  brilliant  cynic.  Lady  Betty 
married  Sir  John  Germaine,  of  Drayton,  the 
notorious  adventurer  and  gambler,  on  whose 
account  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  divorced  his  wife, 


280        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Lady  Mary  Mordaunt.  Through  her,  Sir  John 
became  possessor  of  Drayton,  in  Northampton- 
shire, a  beautiful  old  place,  with  a  perfect  Dutch 
Garden.  He  left  it  to  Lady  Betty,  who  enjoyed 
the  possession  of  it  for  fifty-one  years — as  she  lived 
to  be  "  nearly  a  thousand ! "  Lady  Betty  left 
everything  to  the  second  son  of  her  great  friend, 
the  Duchess  of  Dorset,  Lord  George  Sackville, 
who  afterwards  took  the  name  of  Germaine. 

Was  it,  perchance,  in  the  quaint  Dutch  Garden 
at  Drayton,  or  when  staying  at  Knole,  that  Lady 
Betty  Germaine  learnt  to  make  her  celebrated 
Pot-pourri  ?  Both  Gardens,  most  likely,  were  filled 
with  sweet-smelling,  old-fashioned  flowers,  and  both 
perhaps  could  supply  her  with  the  happy  combina- 
tion of  scents  needed  to  make,  when  dried,  the 
delicious  aroma  of  Pot-pourri. 

What  a  fragrance  there  is  in  the  mere  name 
of  that  scented  treasure — so  beloved  of  the  grand- 
mothers of  the  past — 'Pot-pourri,  whose  home  was 
always  in  some  priceless  piece  of  old  china ! 

The  old  recipe  for  Lady  Betty  Germaine's 
Pot-pourri  in  1750  was  as  follows:  "Gather  dry 
Double  Violets,  Rose  leaves,  Lavender,  Myrtle 
flowers,  Verbena,  Bay  leaves,  Rosemary,  Balm, 
Musk,  Geranium.  Pick  these  from  the  stalks  and 
dry  on  paper  in  the  sun  for  a  day  or  two  before 
putting  them  in  a  jar.  This  should  be  a  large 
white  one,  one  well  glazed,  with  a  close-fitting 


KNOLE  281 

cover;  also  a  piece  of  card  the  exact  size  of  the 
jar,  which  you  must  keep  pressed  down  on  the 
flowers.  Keep  a  new  wooden  spoon,  and  stir  the 
salt  and  flowers  from  the  bottom,  before  you  put  in 
a  fresh  layer  of  bay  salt,  above  and  below  every 
layer  of  flowers. 

"  Have  ready  of  spices,  plenty  of  cinnamon,  mace, 
nutmeg,  and  pepper  and  lemon  peel  pounded. 

"  For  a  large  jar : 

"  £  Ib.  oris  root,  i  oz.  storax,  i  oz.  gum  Benja- 
min, 2  oz.  Calamino  armatico,  2  grs.  Musk,  and 
a  small  quantity  of  oil  of  Rhodium. 

"  The  spice  and  gums  to  be  added  when  you 
have  collected  all  the  flowers  you  intend  to  put  in. 

"  Mix  all  well  together,  press  it  down  well,  and 
spread  bay  salt  on  the  top  to  exclude  the  air  until 
January  or  February  following.  Keep  the  jar  in 
a  cool  place." 

To  return  to  the  Gardens  at  Knole.  At  the  end 
of  the  long  gravel  Terrace,  which  runs  in  front  of  the 
south  side  of  the  house,  lies  a  little  Rose  Garden, 
on  passing  through  which  is  found  another  Walled 
Garden,  entered  by  a  flight  of  steps,  and  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  walls  covered  with  Wistaria;  it 
is  laid  out  with  square  beds  filled  with  mauve 
Rhododendrons.  These  hardy  shrubs,  so  popular 
because  of  their  beautiful  flowers,  will  grow  almost 
anywhere  (if  the  soil  is  free  from  lime),  though  they 
do  best  in  a  sandy  peat  soil.  In  many  parts  of 


282        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Ireland,  where  the  soil  is  peaty,  Rhododendrons 
grow  too  quickly,  and  so  spoil  their  effect  by  over- 
crowding. Within  the  memory  of  the  present 
generation,  this  Garden  was  an  elaborate  formal 
one,  with  prim  edges  and  Parterres.  But  fashion 
decreed  change,  and  change  has  indeed  been 
accomplished.  Though  lacking  in  its  old  charm, 
a  new  Garden  has  been  created,  much  helped  by 
having  as  a  background  a  picturesque  view  of  the 
house. 

On  retracing  the  steps  back  to  the  gravel  Terrace, 
through  the  Rhododendron  Garden,  on  the  left, 
coming  west,  will  be  found  a  Rose  Pergola.  This 
Rose  Pergola  is  raised  high  above  the  Lawn,  which 
it  divides  from  the  last  Garden  ;  it  is  curved  in 
form  and  Early  Victorian  in  type.  The  picturesque 
effect  of  this  Rose  Pergola  is  partly  due  to  its 
admirable  position,  the  trailing  Roses  being  seen 
from  many  parts  of  the  Garden.  At  the  end  of 
this  sweet-scented  Pergola  is  the  "  Duchess  Walk," 
a  long  grass  path,  which  extends  nearly  the  full 
length  of  the  south  side  of  the  Garden.  It  is 
planted  with  flowering  shrubs,  among  the  number 
Wistaria,  Lilac,  and  Laburnum,  all  beautiful  in 
colour  and  grace.  Yet  many  people  disdain  to 
plant  these  three,  as  being  "  too  ordinary  and 
common."  As  if  any  shrub  or  flower,  beautiful  in 
form,  colour,  and  growth,  could  rightly  have  either 
adjective  applied  to  it. 


KNOLE  283 

On  turning  to  the  right  on  reaching  the  "Duchess 
Walk,"  another  green  path  is  encountered,  which 
runs  down,  as  in  old  days,  to  the  gates  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Park.  From  here  a  vista  with  the 
house  at  the  end  of  it  can  be  seen,  across  what 
was  once  the  old  oval  Bowling  Green.  Here,  on 
either  side  of  the  last-named  path,  are  beautiful 
green  Lawns — the  largest  on  the  right,  is  arranged 
with  stone  Vases  filled  with  flowers.  The  second 
Lawn  on  the  left  is  more  a  grass  Plat,  and  is 
planted  regularly  with  Apple  trees  and  Herbaceous 
plants,  with  most  excellent  effect.  Crossing  the 
grass  amongst  the  Apple  trees,  which  in  spring 
are  a  glorious  sight,  a  gravel  Walk  is  found,  edged 
next  the  wall  with  handsome  Herbaceous  plants. 
This  gravel  Walk  leads  past  the  large  gateway 
(into  the  Park)  on  the  west  side.  On  the  wall  on 
either  side  of  this  gateway  stands  a  handsome  lead 
Vase,  with  dolphins  twisted  into  handles,  placed 
there,  most  likely,  when  such  work  was  fashionable 
in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Quite  near  this  gateway,  on  the  left,  is  the 
Orangery,  and  on  the  right,  facing  the  south  front 
of  the  house,  is  a  beautiful  green  Lawn,  like  velvet. 

The  Terrace  is  separated  actually  from  the 
house  by  a  wide  division  of  grass,  planted  with 
Palms,  and  with  stone  Vases,  placed  equidistant, 
filled  with  bright-coloured  flowers,  according  to  the 
time  of  year. 


284        A  BOOK  OP  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Walking  down  this  Terrace,  past  where  the  old 
Bowling  Green  was,  looking  across  the  green  paths 
to  the  Park,  the  old  plan  of  the  Garden  is  clearly 
discernible.  At  the  end  of  the  Lawn  the  Rose 
Pergola  is  again  reached,  and  strikes  the  spectator 
freshly  with  the  excellence  of  its  position. 

At  Knole,  as  at  few  places,  is  seen  most  clearly 
the  value  of  the  old  idea  of  the  Gardens  being 
placed  at  the  side  of  a  great  House,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  a  magnificent  Park. 

Beautiful  as  some  Gardens  may  be,  they  are 
always  dominated  by  the  house  they  lie  near.  Such 
is  the  case  with  the  Gardens  at  Knole  :  they  are 
overshadowed  by  the  glory  of  the  old  House  by 
their  side.  Their  green  beauties  of  grass  Walks 
and  Lawns  only  touch  the  austere  magnificence  of 
the  great  House  with  a  softer  charm — a  charm  greatly 
intensified  by  the  Gardens  being  encircled  by  walls 
and  lying  like  an  oasis  in  the  splendid  Park. 


A   MODERN   GARDEN,   SURREY 


"  Of  all  God's  gifts  to  the  sight  of  man,  colour  is  the  holiest, 
the  most  divine,  the  most  solemn." — Stones  of  Venice 

"  All  men,  completely  organised  and  justly  tempered,  enjoy 
colour ;  it  is  meant  for  the  perpetual  comfort  and  delight  of  the 
human  heart ;  it  is  richly  bestowed  on  the  highest  works  of 
creation,  and  the  eminent  sign  and  seal  of  perfection  in  them; 
being  associated  with  life  in  the  human  body,  with  light  in  the 
sky,  with  purity  and  hardness  in  the  earth — death,  night,  and 
pollution  of  all  kinds  being  colourless." — Modern  Painters 


XIV 

A    MODERN    GARDEN,    SURREY 

A  SENSE  of  colour  and  the  power  to  use  it  is 
**•  a  gift  rarely  met  with  ;  and  especially  rare  is 
it  for  such  a  gift  to  take  a  Garden  as  its  form  of 
expression. 

Few  people  realise  that  once  man  has  deliberately 
grown  his  flowers  within  a  wall — leaving  Nature 
outside  that  line  of  division — Art  must  be  the  guide 
in  the  arrangement  and  selection  of  colours,  not 
Nature,  whose  slavish  imitation  under  conventional 
limitations  will  only  prove  disastrous  and  tantalising. 
For  Nature,  ever  prodigal  with  colour,  as  she  is 
lavish  with  life,  paints  too  bold  a  picture  for  mortals 
to  copy. 

Most  modern  Gardens  lack  not  only  this  art  of 
design  with  its  accompanying  colour  scheme,  but 
also  the  value  of  scent  is  partly,  if  not  wholly,  for- 
gotten. The  twin  sisters,  Scent  and  Colour, 
should  go  hand  in  hand  in  the  making  of  a  Flower 
Garden,  and  they  do  in  at  least  one  modern 


288        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Garden  in  the  county  of  Surrey,  lying,  walled  in, 
between  three  roads. 

It  is  interesting  to  pass  from  Gardens  which 
have  existed  (in  some  shape)  for  hundreds  of 
years  to  one  which,  as  far  as  age  is  concerned, 
might  be  said  to  be  still  in  swaddling  clothes. 
Delightful  to  find  that  its  youth  is  no  barrier  to  its 
holding  its  own  in  beauty  of  design  and  originality 
of  thought,  a  cheering  discovery  in  these  days  so 
lacking  in  both. 

This  Garden  belongs  to  an  artist  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  and  is  one  in  which  hours,  days, 
and  months  could  be  spent  among  its  beauties. 
Every  moment  leads  to  the  discovery  of  a  new 
colour  effect  or  audacious  colour  contrast,  the 
whole  delicately  harmonising  against  a  dark  foliage 
background. 

Rough  stone  terrace  steps,  edged  with  cut  shrubs, 
a  little  hedge,  and  groups  of  grand  Lilium  auratum, 
lead  down  from  the  yellow  stone-built  House  across 
a  Lawn  to  a  beautiful  Herbaceous  Border,  as  care- 
fully planted  with  flowers  as  a  painter  arranges 
colour  on  his  canvas  ;  "  not  dropped  down  in  lifeless 
dabs  as  he  has  them  on  the  palette,"  but  placed 
with  "  forethought  and  deliberation."  The  wild 
grace  of  Nature  allied  to  the  controlling  influence 
of  Art  produces  in  this  border  an  exquisite  com- 
bination of  colour,  showing  the  amazingly  beautiful 
result  obtainable  by  skilled  eyes  and  clever  hands. 


THE  TERRACE.   A  MODERN  GARDEN 


A  MODERN  GARDEN  289 

The  colour  scheme  of  blue,  fading  into  grey,  has 
just  enough  yellow  introduced  to  catch  the  sunlight, 
and  to  prevent  the  whole  looking  chill  on  dull  days. 
All  sorts  of  flowers,  herbs,  and  even  vegetables,  are 
requisitioned  to  contribute  to  the  general  harmony : — 
Wormwood,  Rosemary,  Catmint,  Lavender,  Sea- 
kale,  Santolina  (Lavender  Cotton),  the  little  fluffy 
silver-leaved  Rabbit's  Ear  or  Woundwort,  Sea 
Holly,  Globe  Thistle ;  and  even  a  coloured  Kale, 
is  inserted  without  hesitation  to  complete  the  colour 
scheme. 

This  blue-grey  colour  runs  like  a  ribbon  through 
the  Garden,  and  is  lost  in  a  border — the  arrange- 
ment of  which  is  yellow,  orange,  and  red— only  to 
be  found  again  and  again,  the  keynote,  in  fact,  of 
this  wonderful  harmony  in  colour. 

An  arched  doorway,  wreathed  with  creepers, 
leads  into  another  Garden,  filled  to  overflowing 
with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  flowers.  In  corners, 
on  the  walls,  even  overrunning  the  edges  of  the 
walks,  owing  to  their  luxuriant  growth — here, 
there,  and  everywhere,  in  perfectly  delicious  con- 
fusion— are  to  be  found  masses  of  Lavender, 
Roses  and  Pinks,  Double  Hollyhocks,  Michaelmas 
Daisies,  Marigolds,  Snapdragon,  Ageratum,  Cherry 
Pie,  and  Gypsophila. 

There  are  two  charming  fancies  to  be  found 
embodied  in  this  Modern  Garden,  viz.,  the  planting 
of  flowers  for  every  month,  and  a  "  special  region  " 


290        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

being  set  apart  for  a  special  plant,  making  a  kind  of 
Garden  for  it  alone.  The  surprise  is  great  when  the 
eye  first  catches  sight  of  the  Garden  of  Michaelmas 
Daisies,  mauve,  purple,  and  white  all  blended  in 
a  feathery  mist.  Planted  in  a  wide  border,  on 
each  side  of  a  walk,  with  a  hedge  of  Filberts 
and  some  dark  Portugal  Laurels  as  a  background, 
the  effect  is  most  picturesque.  White  Dahlias  are 
the  only  other  plants  allowed  near  the  Daisies,  their 
colouring  harmonising  perfectly  together. 

In  the  wild  Garden,  near  the  wood,  there  is  a 
special  early  spring  Garden  for  Primroses — 

"  Pale  Primroses, 

That  die  unmarried  ere  they  can  behold 
Bright  Phoebus  in  his  strength  " ; 

while  in  June  the  Peonies  spread  a  crimson  glory 
over  their  "special  region." 

Near  the  house  is  a  stone  Pergola,  and  lower 
down  in  the  Garden  is  to  be  found  that  rarity,  a 
regular  rough  Italian  type  of  Pergola,  covered  with 
the  giant  Gourds,  the  leaves  of  which  are  magnifi- 
cently decorative.  The  Flower  Garden  is  cleverly 
separated  by  this  Pergola  from  another  half  Kitchen 
and  half  Flower  Garden.  The  latter  is  intersected 
with  clipped  hedges  of  different  kinds,  one  being 
particularly  fine  and  high,  of  Lawson's  Cypress, 
proving  a  great  protection  for  the  flowers  from  the 


A  MODERN  GARDEN  291 

cold  winds  besides  possessing  a  very  pleasant 
aromatic  scent. 

Hedges,  both  for  use  and  for  decorative  purposes, 
are  introduced  all  through  this  Garden.  The  value 
of  walls  is  also  clearly  shown  ;  wonderful  climbers 
wreathe  the  gateways,  and  creepers  find  a  home  in 
the  loose  stones  of  the  walls,  growing  with  fasci- 
nating freedom.  Along  one  side  of  the  house  runs 
a  splendid  bank  of  Scotch  Briars,  about  twenty-five 
yards  long  and  six  feet  wide.  To  use  the  artist's 
words  about  them,  "  Scotch  Briars  have  the  great 
merit  as  Garden  plants — a  merit  that  scarcely  any 
other  family  of  Roses  can  claim — of  being  in  some 
kind  of  beauty  throughout  the  year." 

The  Rock  Gardens  are  to  be  found  by  crossing 
the  Lawn  from  here  and  going  towards  the  wood. 
The  upper  one  is  made  of  ridges  of  stone,  planted 
with  small  shrubs,  such  as  Gaultheria  and  Alpine 
Rhododendrons,  some  Ferns,  and  "  various  good 
foliage  plants  like  Saxifraga  peltata,  and  Rodgersia 
podophylla" 

The  other  Rock  Garden  lies  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  Lawn,  and  to  quote  again,  "is  absolutely 
artificial,  and  only  pretends  to  be  a  suitable  home 
for  certain  small  plants  that  I  love."  Made  with 
shallow  steps  leading  from  the  path,  the  joints  in 
the  "dry  walling"  are  filled  with  Stonecrops  and 
small  Ferns.  In  cooler  places  Ramondin,  and  in 
vacant  spots  "  Mossy  Saxifrage,  coolest  and  freshest 


292        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

of  Alpine  herbage,"  are  to  be  found.  Groups  of 
Othonnopsis  and  Hieracium  are  placed  on  the 
sunny  side  of  this  Rock  Garden,  as  well  as  Iris 
cristata,  and  Violets,  including  the  white  Dog 
Violet,  are  to  be  seen  in  a  little  corner;  while  a 
place  is  found  for  the  Cuckoo  plant,  no  longer, 
alas !  known  by  its  quaint  old  name  of  "  Lady's 
Smocks." 

Noticeable  at  once  is  the  delicious  scent  which 
fills  the  whole  of  this  Modern  Garden,  the  result  of 
skilful  and  judicious  planning,  as  are  the  perfectly 
blended  combinations  of  colour  to  be  found  on 
every  side.  To  pass  from  the  scent  of  Roses, 
Honeysuckle,  Lavender,  and  Carnations,  into  the 
aromatic  odour  of  Bay,  Rosemary,  Thyme,  and 
Rue,  is  a  pleasure  rarely,  if  ever,  to  be  met  with 
elsewhere.  In  the  midst  of  these  delights  stands  a 
house  designed  by  a  clever  architect  and  super- 
intended by  the  artist  of  the  Garden,  and  with  equal 
success.  Everything  within  and  without  is  old- 
fashioned,  nothing  is  sham,  but  all  honestly  made 
in  the  good  old  way.  For  instance,  the  beams  are 
fastened  with  wooden  pins,  and  the  oak  doors  have 
iron  latches  and  bolts,  and  long  hinges  of  the  old 
country  pattern ;  and  the  oak  woodwork  is  a 
delicate  grey  colour,  untouched  by  stain  or  varnish 
of  any  kind — a  shade  of  oak  very  seldom  seen,  as 
most  people  prefer  it  darker  in  colour,  under  the 
impression  that  old  age — not  stain — is  responsible 


A  MODERN  GARDEN  293 

for  it.  Oaken  beams,  almost  in  their  natural  tree 
shape,  run  across  the  ceiling  of  the  long  upstairs 
passage  with  excellent  effect.  Heavy  beams  also 
cross  the  low  ceilings  of  the  sitting-rooms. 

Attached  to  this  original  house  is  a  workshop, 
the  owner's  sanctum,  pervaded  by  the  aroma  of 
dried  herbs  and  seeds,  and  filled  with  tools  for 
clever  hands  to  use.  A  huge  writing-table  and  a 
carpenter's  bench  form  part  of  the  furniture  ;  while 
shelves  and  drawers  for  every  conceivable  thing 
take  up  nearly  the  whole  of  one  wall.  Off  the 
workshop  opening  into  the  Garden  is  a  little 
room  fitted  with  a  sink,  shelves  full  of  baskets, 
and  boxes  of  seeds,  and  all  sorts  of  gardening 
paraphernalia. 

A  description  of  this  charming  place  would 
certainly  not  be  complete  without  an  allusion  to 
the  pets — "the  pussies" — who  are  such  important 
members  of  the  household,  and  are  allowed  to  run 
hither  and  thither  all  over  the  place,  ever  sure  of 
a  warm  welcome  from  their  mistress. 

On  leaving  this  Modern  Garden,  the  impressions 
which  remain  are  certainly  the  delicious  scent,  the 
lavish  growth  of  flowers  in  masses  of  colour, 
grouped  against  suitable  backgrounds,  and  planned 
in  each  instance  as  an  artist  plans  his  picture.  No 
corner  of  this  domain  but  has  its  value— the  potting 
sheds  thatched  with  wood  chips,  a  by-product  of  a 
rural  winter  industry,  the  making  of  barrel-hoops ; 


294        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

the  low  seed  loft,  built  of  stone  and  weather-board, 
with  an  outside  stair  such  as  is  more  often  to  be 
seen  in  Scotland.  Everything  teaches  the  same 
lessons,  the  value  of  simplicity,  the  nobility  of  work, 
and  the  joy  of  colour. 


SUTTON  PLACE,  SURREY 


"  But  before  all  things,  to  be  sure  you  lay  the  Foundation  of 
your  Husbandry  upon  the  Blessing  of  Almighty  God  :  continually 
imploring  His  divine  aid  and  assistance  in  all  your  labours.  For 
it  is  God  that  gives  the  increase ;  and  believing  this  is  the  Quint- 
essence and  Soul  of  Husbandry. 

"  I  therefore  desire  all  country  people  to  endeavour  to  know 
these  plants  which  grow  at  their  doors  (for  God  had  not  planted 
these  there  for  no  purpose — for  He  doth  nothing  in  vain).  .  .  ." 
A  Treatise  of  Husbandry,  R.  WESTON 


XV 

SUTTON    PLACE,    SURREY 

PERFECT  in  design  and  proportion,  Sutton 
A  Place,  near  Guildford,  remains  a  glorious 
memento  of  past  genius  and  artistic  power.  The 
usual  additions  and  alterations  which  most  houses 
suffer  from  time  to  time  this  beautiful  old  house 
has  fortunately  escaped,  and  stands  much  the  same 
now  as  it  did  in  the  days  of  its  keen,  shrewd  creator, 
Sir  Richard  Weston— a  man  to  be  remembered  as 
having  built  Sutton  Place  and  kept  the  favour  of 
Henry  VIII.  for  thirty-two  years. 

There  is  a  unique  fascination  about  any  old 
place  which  has  been  left  alone,  only  tended  and 
cared  for  but  not  changed  by  the  taste  of  each 
fleeting  generation.  True  to  the  date  of  the  House, 
the  Gardens  at  Sutton  Place  are  entirely  enclosed. 

Great  trees  and  clipped  Yews  stand  near  the 
House,  but  no  sign  of  a  flower  can  be  seen  from 
any  window,  nothing  to  break  in  upon  the  perfect 
harmony  of  the  beautiful  old  building,  so  exquisite 


298        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

in  colour  and  design.  The  nearest  bed  of  flowers 
is  an  exceptionally  fine  Herbaceous  Border  which 
runs  parallel  with  the  house,  the  enclosed  Gardens 
lying  in  a  line  with  it.  Beyond  the  walls  of  these 
Gardens  the  Herbaceous  Border  lies  like  a  flash  of 
colour,  flanked  by  a  grass  walk,  which  has  on  the 
other  side  a  delightful  old  Holly  hedge,  cut  in 
quaint  shapes,  round  and  square — quite  a  precious 
heirloom  from  past  days ;  the  beautiful  mass  of 
glossy  leaves  contrasting  well  with  the  varied 
colours  of  the  flowers  close  by. 

Lord  and  Lady  Northcliffe,  who  have  taken 
Sutton  Place  on  a  long  lease,  possess  a  genuine 
love  for  the  old  House,  and  entering  into  the  spirit 
of  its  past,  jealously  guard  it  from  innovation, 
allowing  nothing  to  be  introduced  there  which  is  out 
of  keeping  with  the  style  of  the  house  or  Gardens. 
The  wrought-iron  gates  to  both  the  walled  Gardens 
were  designed  by  Lady  Northcliffe,  and  carried  out 
by  the  village  blacksmith.  Entering  by  the  first  of 
these  original  gates,  a  Garden  is  found  full  of 
interest,  filled  with  old-fashioned  flowers,  such  as 
Lavender  and  Roses,  blending  delightfully  both  as 
to  colour  and  scent.  The  flowers  are  planted  in 
four  square  beds  in  the  centre  of  the  Garden,  inter- 
sected by  grass  paths.  A  Pergola  of  Roses  and 
Honeysuckle  runs  across  the  middle  of  the  Garden, 
appearing  to  bind  the  two  halves  of  the  Rose-beds 
together,  and  giving  a  very  fanciful  effect  to  the 


BUTTON  PLACE  299 

whole.  A  gravel  path  runs  round  the  Rose-beds, 
beyond  which  are  the  fine  old  brick  walls.  In  the 
four  corners  of  these  walls  there  used  to  be — when 
Sutton  Place  was  built — four  octagonal  Arbours. 
These  delightful  resting-places,  which  in  very  early 
days  were  only  made  of  trellis  work  covered  with 
creepers,  formed  perfect  green  Bowers,  and  were 
found  even  in  mediaeval  Gardens.  In  Tudor  times 
these  Arbours  were  made  of  brick — and  at  Loseley, 
in  Surrey,  three  out  of  the  original  four  still  remain 
in  the  old  Walled  Garden.  Here  at  Sutton  Place 
only  one  has  braved  the  stress  of  years,  but  it 
clearly  shows  how  charming  an  effect  the  four  would 
have  made.  The  remaining  little  Arbour  was  built 
about  1520,  of  the  same  material  as  the  old  House, 
viz.,  red  brick,  but  such  beautiful  brick,  coloured 
most  exquisitely  by  the  hand  of  Time.  Octagonal  in 
shape,  it  stands  very  gracefully  in  the  corner  of  the 
wall  ;  consisting  of  two  floors,  the  ground  floor 
lighted  only  by  the  two  doors.  This  lower  room 
has  been  panelled  with  old  oak  by  Lord  Northcliffe, 
and  contains  some  oak  chairs,  a  gate  table,  and  a 
quaint  old  press.  The  upper  floor  is  approached  by 
a  little  ladder ;  it  has  a  tiny  fireplace,  and  is  lit  by 
two  dormer  windows  in  the  roof;  the  walls  are 
simply  whitewashed.  Being  a  very  fresh,  sunny 
little  chamber,  it  is  delightful  for  the  purpose  to 
which  it  has  been  put,  viz.,  a  library  for  Garden 
books,  an  ideal  spot  in  which  to  enjoy  Garden 


300        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

literature.  It  is  also  used  as  a  place  for  classifying 
plants  and  arranging  the  colour  schemes  for 
borders — a  very  necessary  consideration,  and  one 
too  often  neglected,  to  judge  from  the  crude  effects 
often  seen ;  though  in  these  days  colour  is  put 
before  everything  (but  not  always  successfully),  and 
often  the  dignity  of  design  is  forgotten,  as  well 
as  the  power  of  simplicity.  From  this  Arbour  a 
covered  way,  having  a  little  roof  of  red  tiles  sup- 
ported on  oak  pillars  stretches  out  to  the  wall 
beyond.  A  post-and-rail  trellis  for  climbing  Roses 
runs  all  round  one  side  of  the  Garden,  and  when  the 
trees  are  in  bloom  the  effect  must  be  quite  that 
of  a  Rose  Bower. 

Close  to  the  wall  near  the  Arbour  is  a  most 
magnificent  bed  of  Michaelmas  Daisies,  ranging  in 
colour  from  deepest  purple  to  palest  mauve,  and 
intermixed  with  white.  Hardly  any  flower  of  the 
kind  has  more  decorative  value  in  masses  than 
this  delicate,  feathery-looking  Daisy,  which  glows 
with  star-like  beauty  even  during  the  dull  Autumn 
days,  when  hardly  any  colour  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
Garden,  except  the  glorious  reds  and  yellows  of  the 
Autumn  tints  in  the  dying  leaves. 

The  ordinary  name  Aster  applied  to  Michaelmas 
Daisies  would  surprise  the  uninitiated,  who  always 
associate  the  word  with  the  prim,  stiff-looking  China 
Aster  (Callistephus  chinensis]  the  annual  so  often 
used  for  bedding-out  purposes  in  villa  Gardens. 


THE  WALL  ARBOUR,  SUTTON  PLACE 


BUTTON  PLACE  301 

But   the    Michaelmas    Daisy,    or  Starwort,    is  the 
rightful  owner  of  the  name  Aster. 

There  are  over  a  hundred  species  of  Michaelmas 
Daisies — chiefly  natives  of  North  America  ;  they 
are  easy  to  grow,  but  need  a  good  soil.  The 
chief  matter  is  where  to  place  them  in  a  Garden, 
their  freedom  of  growth  often  causing  them  to 
destroy  other  plants.  But  grown  as  in  this  old 
Walled  Garden — in  masses — quite  freely,  they  give 
colour  and  effect  late  into  the  Autumn. 

The  beauty  of  this  Garden  is  greatly  enhanced 
by  its  background  of  old  brick  walls — in  places 
almost  rose-pink  in  colour — always  of  such  great 
value  as  an  effective  setting  for  flowers. 

The  second  Walled  or  Kitchen  Garden  is  well  and 
artistically  stocked  with  Apple  trees,  vegetables  and 
flowers,  all  cleverly  mixed  up  together,  and  in  arrange- 
ment all  in  keeping  with  the  date  of  the  House. 

These  two  walled  Gardens  are  all  that  remain  of 
the  old  Gardens  belonging  to  Sutton  Place.  They 
possess  a  pensive  charm  always  to  be  found  in  an 
enclosed  Garden,  for  without  doubt  the  perfect 
Garden  is  one  that  is  walled  or  hedged  round— the 
very  word  Garden  itself  means  "  enclosed  space." 
The  cry  for  views  does  not  come  from  the  true 
Garden-lover,  but  one  in  love  with  wide  extending 
landscape  beauties  and  the  lovely  woods  and  valleys 
created  by  Nature,  all  of  which  surely  lie  apart  from 
the  simple  beauties  of  a  Garden. 


302        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

The  other  Gardens  at  Sutton  Place  are  quite 
modern.  The  Wild  Garden  is  to  be  found  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Lawn  opposite  the  House.  The 
Water  Garden,  the  construction  of  which  Lady 
Northcliffe  is  now  superintending,  is  to  be  formal  in 
style.  A  number  of  men  are  now  engaged  in 
digging  out  the  ponds,  and  when  it  is  all  finished 
there  is  no  doubt  it  will  be  a  great  additional  beauty 
to  the  place. 

The  dear  little  Rosary,  or  Rose  Garden,  is 
reached  by  crossing  the  Lawn  to  the  right  of 
the  House,  or  by  the  little  narrow  path  that 
runs  between  the  beautiful  old  Hollies.  It  is 
square  in  design,  with  a  low  hedge  of  clipped  Yew 
all  round,  with  passage-ways  cut  in  three  sides. 
By  looking  through  one  of  these  openings  a  pretty 
glimpse  of  the  Rosary  is  seen,  with  its  carpet  of 
grass,  Sundial,  Fountain,  and  Stone  Seat.  It  is  a 
dainty  little  spot,  planned  with  thought  and  care. 

"  A  Roser  charged  full  of  Rosis 
That  with  an  hedge  about  enclosis," 

as  the  old  poet  says. 

Being  all  grass  underfoot,  it  is  chiefly  a  summer 
Garden,  a  delightful  retreat  for  rest  and  thought — 
always  more  readily  found  in  a  Garden  than  in  any 
other  place. 

A  Fountain  stands  in  a  stone  Basin  in  the  centre 


BUTTON  PLACE  303 

of  the  grass,  in  which  are  cut  four  Rose-beds,  curved 
on  the  side  next  the  Fountain,  and  so  forming  round 
it  a  pleasing  pattern.  A  Pillar  Sundial  is  placed 
beyond  the  Fountain.  All  Sundials  have  a  fascina- 
tion about  them,  as  well  as  a  great  decorative  value, 
but  Pillar  Sundials  must  ever  recall  the  memory  of 
a  brilliant  woman  who  lived  long  ago,  viz.,  Anne 
Clifford,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  Dorset,  and  Mont- 
gomery, and  who  put  up  the  earliest  Pillar  Sundials 
on  the  wayside  between  Appleby  and  Brougham 
in  1556 — "for  a  memorial  of  Her  Last  Parting  in 
This  Place  with  Her  Good  and  Pious  Mother." 

Against  the  Yew  hedge  at  the  end  of  the  Rosary 
is  a  semicircular  Stone  Seat,  to  which  the  dark 
background  of  Yew  forms  an  exceptionally  good 


& 
contrast. 


Sutton  Place  has  only  one  short  avenue  of  Elms, 
no  longer  used  as  a  drive  to  the  House,  the 
approach  now  being  made  through  some  green 
meadows.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  one  is 
generally  sown  with  clover,  for  in  1 645  Sir  Richard 
Weston  introduced  the  "Great  Clover"  into 
England,  so  this  pretty  grass  is  most  appropriately 
found  at  Sutton. 

Not  one,  but  many  celebrated  people  must  have 
wandered  in  the  old  Gardens  at  Sutton  Place,  all 
more  or  less  linked  with  the  history  of  the  House. 
For  instance,  Pope,  the  poet  of  satires  and  intrigues, 
had  a  romantic  attachment  to  Elizabeth  Weston, 


304        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH   GARDENS 

sister  of  Viscount  Gage  and  wife  of  John,  the  last 
male  heir  of  the  sturdy  old  founder  of  the  house, 
Sir  Richard  Weston. 

In  all  likelihood,  in  early  days,  before  the  quarrel 
between  the  husband  and  wife,  Pope  must  have 
stayed  at  Sutton  Place,  and  may  have  thought  out 
many  poems  in  the  old  Garden,  or  have  written 
some  of  his  bitter  letters  in  the  wall  Arbour.  The 
poem  "  To  an  Unfortunate  Lady  "  is  now  known 
to  have  been  written  about  Mrs.  Weston,  though 
entirely  fictitious  in  its  detail.  For  though  Mrs. 
Weston  was  separated  for  a  time  from  her  husband 
(Pope  writes  to  Caryll,  his  friend,  in  1711,  that 
it  was  "her  ill-fate  to  be  cast  as  a  pearl  before 
swine"),  she  did  not  commit  suicide  abroad, 
friendless,  but  returned  to  her  husband,  and  died 
comfortably  at  home. 

Pope  writes  to  this  lady  in  the  most  passionate 
language,  "  Your  own  guardian  angels  cannot  be 
more  constant ;  nor  more  silent." 

Nevertheless,  he  did  mischief  by  his  interference, 
and  evidently  was  banished  from  the  house.  He 

writes  to  Caryll  in  1712,  "Mr.  W is  gloomy 

upon  the  matter — the  tyrant  meditates  revenge ; 
nay,  the  disturbed  dame  herself  has  been  taught 
to  suspect  I  served  her  but  by  halves  and  without 
prudence."  From  old  letters  it  appears  that  Pope 
did  not  outlive  his  fancy ;  and  even  much  later  he  can- 
not allude  to  Mr.  Weston  without  passionate  abuse. 


SUTTON  PLACE  305 

A  very  different  person  was  William  Harvey, 
who  also  stayed  at  Sutton  Place  when  Ann, 
Countess  of  Arundel,  occupied  the  house;  she 
sent  to  London  in  1619  for  a  doctor,  as  her 
grandson  was  very  ill,  and  shortly  afterwards 
died.  The  doctor  who  came  was  no  other  than 
the  celebrated  William  Harvey,  the  discoverer  of 
the  circulation  of  the  blood. 

Two  celebrated  women  have  inherited  the  manor 
of  Sutton  at  different  times,  viz.,  Joan,  "The  Fair 
Maid  of  Kent,"  and  the  famous  Countess  of  Rich- 
mond. Joan,  "The  Fair  Maid,"  was  the  mother  of 
Richard  II.,  having  married  as  her  third  husband 
the  Black  Prince.  Her  son  (by  Sir  Thomas 
Holland)  inherited  the  estates,  and  was  one 
among  the  many  possessors  of  these  lands  who 
early  met  with  a  violent  death.  After  many 
vicissitudes,  deaths,  attainders,  and  constant  revo- 
lutions, the  manor  of  Sutton  became  the  property  of 
Margaret,  Countess  of  Richmond,  "whose  merit 
exceeds  the  highest  commendation  that  can  be 
given,  and  from  whom  the  Royal  Family  of 
England  is  descended,"  as  writes  old  Camden. 

Margaret,  who  was  the  mother  of  Henry  VIII., 
was  "by  descent  a  Lancaster,  by  birth  a  Somer- 
set, and  by  marriage  a  Tudor,  a  Stafford,  and  a 
Stanley." 

At  an  early  age — realising  what  an  heiress  she 
was  (the  estate  of  Sutton  being  only  one  among 


306        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

many  that  death  and  war  had  thrown  into  her  hands) 
— many  sought  her  in  marriage  for  their  sons. 

The  Duke  of  Suffolk  wished  his  son,  John  de  la 
Pole,  to  marry  her;  and  Henry  VI.  wooed  her 
for  his  half-brother,  Edmund  Tudor,  Earl  of 
Richmond. 

This  rival  courtship,  which  is  mentioned  in 
Bacon's  Life  of  Henry  VII.,  worried  the  little  girl, 
and  she  consulted  an  old  gentlewoman  whom  she 
much  loved.  The  advice  she  received  was  to  com- 
mend herself  to  St.  Nicholas,  the  helper  of  all  true 
maidens,  and,  as  she  told  her  spiritual  director, 
"  this  counsel  she  followed,  and  made  her  prayers 
so  full  often,  but  especially  that  night,  when  she 
should  the  morrow  after  make  answer  of  her  mind 
determinately.  A  marvellous  thing !  The  same 
night  as  she  lay  in  prayer,  calling  upon  St.  Nicholas, 
whether  sleeping  or  waking  she  could  not  assure, 
but  about  four  of  the  clock  in  the  morning,  one 
appeared  unto  her  arrayed  like  a  bishop,  and 
naming  unto  her  Edmund,  bade  her  take  him  unto 
her  husband." 

In  her  fifteenth  year,  in  1455,  she  married 
Edmund  Tudor,  and  "became  allied  by  birth  and 
marriage  to  thirty  Kings  and  Queens."  Sadly 
enough,  the  Earl  of  Richmond  died  the  following 
year,  leaving  her  with  a  tiny  son,  afterwards 
Henry  VII. 

The  Countess  of  Richmond,  wisely  considering 


SUTTON  PLACE  307 

the  times  and  her  vast  estates,  very  shortly 
married  Sir  Henry  Stafford,  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham.  Margaret  was  a  woman  of  religious 
fervour  combined  with  great  mental  endowments  ; 
she  translated  many  books  into  English,  among  them 
"The  Mirroure  of  Golde  for  the  Sinful  Soule " 
from  the  French,  and  "  De  Imitatione  Christi" 
from  the  Latin. 

Margaret  naturally  withdrew  from  the  Court 
during  the  reign  of  Richard  III.,  considering  her 
son,  Henry  Richmond,  the  rightful  heir  to  the 
throne. 

In  1485  she  had  the  joy  of  writing  to  him  as 
"my  own  sweet  and  most  dear  King  and  all  my 
worldly  joy,"  besides  welcoming  him  many  times  to 
her  estates  at  Sutton.  The  latter,  at  her  death  in 
1509,  she  left  to  her  grandson,  Henry  VIII.,  who 
erected  to  her  memory  a  splendid  monument. 

Henry  VIII.  granted  the  manor  of  Sutton,  with 
its  "woods,  meadows,  pastures,  fisheries,  water, 
vineyards,  ponds,  etc.,"  "to  his  noble  and  well 
beloved  Privy  Counsellor,  Sir  Richard  Weston." 
Sir  Richard  Weston  came  of  an  old  family,  and 
was  a  Gentleman  of  the  Privy  Chamber,  also 
Master  of  the  Court  of  Wards,  Treasurer  of  Calais, 
and  Under-Treasurer  of  England.  A  remarkable 
man  was  Sir  Richard,  for  though  his  name  does 
not  appear  actually  in  history,  it  constantly  occurs 
in  the  State  Papers  of  the  time  ;  and  he  is  recorded 


308        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

as  having  taken  no  small  part  in  State  affairs.  And, 
marvellous  to  relate,  he  kept  the  King's  favour — 
even  more  wonderful,  his  affection — for  over  thirty- 
two  years,  never  once  incurring  his  displeasure ;  an 
extraordinary  achievement,  considering  Henry's 
fickle  temperament.  Doubtless  Weston  was  most 
useful  to  the  King  in  secret  affairs,  and  also  to  the 
ambitious  Wolsey ;  taking  part  in  many  a  dark 
tragedy.  He  writes  to  the  Cardinal  as  his  most 
humble  servant,  "through  whose  goodness  and 
medyacion  all  that  I  have  now  proceeded  and 
came." 

Sir  Richard  was  a  soldier,  ambassador,  Privy 
Councillor — in  fact,  a  "new  man,"  meaning  a  man 
after  Henry's  own  heart ;  not  over-scrupulous, 
grasping,  and  an  absolute  time-server,  but  ever 
faithful  to  his  Royal  master  and  his  own  friends. 

Such  was  the  man  who  built  the  beautiful  House, 
and  who  was  supposed  by  many  to  have  been 
his  own  architect.  "  Sutton  Place,"  says  Mr. 
Frederic  Harrison  in  a  most  interesting  article 
upon  the  House,  "is  indeed  one  of  the  very  earliest 
extant  examples  in  England  of  a  house  designed 
and  built  with  a  purely  domestic  character — without 
any  trace  of  fortification  or  military  purpose.  It  is 
singular  also  in  that  its  northern  and  southern 
fa£ades  are  entirely  the  work  of  one  hand,  con- 
taining no  earlier  structure  and  no  later  additions. 
It  may  be  said  to  be  unique  in  showing  Gothic 


SUTTON  PLACE  309 

features  in  peculiar  combination  with  the  best  Italian 
art  of  the  Renaissance.  And  lastly,  it  is  one  of 
the  rare  examples  of  a  pre- Reformation  house  in 
which,  by  tradition  of  the  owner's  family,  the  Mass 
has  been  celebrated,  openly  or  in  secret,  without 
interruption,  for  350  years." 

The  simplest  explanation  with  regard  to  the 
designer  of  the  house  seems  to  be  that  it  was 
planned  by  some  one  who  had  seen  a  great  deal  of 
foreign  architecture,  especially  in  France,  such  as 
the  Chateau  of  the  Loire,  slightly  earlier  in  date 
than  Sutton.  Possibly  that  person  was  Sir  Richard 
Weston  himself,  who  attended  Henry  at  the  Field 
of  the  Cloth  of  Gold.  Whoever  the  builder  was, 
he  was  certainly  helped  in  the  design  and  details 
by  Girolamo  da  Trevizi,  often  called  Trevisano, 
who  introduced  both  terra-cotta  and  moulded  brick- 
work into  England. 

Aubrey,  in  his  "  Natural  History  of  Antiquities 
of  Surrey,"  mentions  Sutton  Place.  "  The  place," 
he  says,  ''is  a  noble  seat,  built  of  Brick,  and  has 
a  stately  Gate-house  with  a  very  high  Tower  bear- 
ing a  Turret  at  each  angle.  In  it  is  a  square  court. 
The  windows  are  made  of  baked  earth  of  whitish- 
yellow  colour  (like  Flanders  Bricks).  The  mould- 
ings within  the  House  are  adorned  with  Pendants 
of  fruit  and  flowers.  The  Fabrick  was  erected  by 
Sir  Richard  Weston,  Master  of  the  Court  of 
Wards." 


310        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Seldom  in  the  history  of  any  house  is  there 
to  be  found  a  darker  tragedy  than  that  told  of  Sir 
Richard  Weston  and  his  only  son  Francis. 

It  was  in  the  year  1526  that  Francis  Weston  was 
made  one  of  the  King's  pages,  and  from  that  time 
he  chiefly  lived  at  Court.  The  King  took  a  great 
fancy  to  Francis  Weston,  and  played  games  of 
"dyce,"  "  Imperiall,"  and  "tennis"  with  him, 
allowing  the  spoilt  boy  often  to  win  immense 
sums  of  money. 

In  old  records,  such  as  the  "  Chronicles  of  Calais 
and  the  Privy  Purse  Expenses  of  Henry  VIII.," 
there  are  constant  allusions  to  the  expenditure  of 
"young  Weston,"  as  he  is  called.  For  instance, 
there  is  an  entry,  "  Hose  for  Master  Weston,  Mark 
(Mark  Smeaton,  the  musician  of  Anne  Boleyn,  who 
shared  later  the  same  fate  as  Weston),  and  Patche, 
the  King's  fool."  Then  later,  "  the  King  lends 
young  Weston  £20"  (equal  to  .£240  nowadays). 
Again,  ;£i8  is  noted  as  lost  to  Weston  by  the 
King,  "at  popes  July's  game"  ;  45.  is  paid  to  the 
servant  "  who  brings  the  brawn  and  pudding  from 
Lady  Weston  to  the  King."  For  many  years  Sir 
Richard  had  planned  a  marriage  for  his  only  son 
with  his  ward,  Ann,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir 
Christopher  Pickering.  The  young  bridegroom 
was  only  nineteen  when  he  made  this  brilliant 
match.  The  gambling  between  the  page  and  his 
master  still  continued  after  this  marriage,  as  much 


SUTTON  PLACE  311 

as  ^"46  (equal  to  ^560)  being  lost  and  won  at  a 
sitting  at  "  dyce." 

Henry  VIII.  married  Anne  Boleyn  privately  in 
January,  1533,  but  he  did  not  dare  to  acknowledge 
her  publicly  as  his  wife  till  Cranmer  had  finally 
decreed  that  his  marriage  with  Katherine  was  null 
and  void.  On  their  Coronation-day  Francis  Wes- 
ton  was  made  a  Knight  of  the  Bath.  Friedman, 
who  writes  the  life  of  Anne  so  ruthlessly,  says : 
"  Among  the  friends  of  Anne  there  was  a  young 
courtier  named  Sir  Francis  Weston,  the  son  of 
Richard  Weston,  Under-Treasurer  of  the  Ex- 
chequer. He  had  just  been  a  royal  page,  but 
had  risen  to  the  rank  of  Groom  of  the  Privy 
Chamber,  and  was  now  one  of  the  Gentlemen 
of  it.  For  the  last  eight  years,  by  reason  of 
his  office,  he  had  resided  constantly  at  Court, 
and  he  had  obtained  a  good  many  grants  and 
pensions." 

Before  ten  months  had  elapsed  after  the  Coro- 
nation, Henry  paid  a  State  visit  to  the  beautiful 
house  of  his  faithful  servant  Sir  Richard  Weston, 
"  Concernying  newis  here  be  non  wourthe  the 
writing,  saving  that  God  be  thankid  the  Kinges 
highnes  is  in  prossperous  estate  at  this  present 
tyme  at  Sir  Richard  Weston."  It  was  on  such  occa- 
sions as  these  that  the  "grete  carpete  to  lay  under 
the  Kyng's  fete"  was  used. 

Anne — "pale  Anne"— who  would  not,  or  could 


312        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

not,  resist  flirting,  was  the  undoing  of  handsome 
young  Francis  Weston,  as  well  as  herself.  His- 
tory, apparently,  is  unable  to  solve  the  mystery 
connected  with  the  whole  of  the  story.  Each 
account  varies — some  even  leaving  Francis  Wes- 
ton's  name  out  of  the  list  of  Anne's  lovers.  Poor 
Anne,  with  her  short-lived  triumph !  Whatever 
truth  there  may  have  been  in  the  accusations  made 
against  the  unhappy  woman,  the  reason  of  her 
condemnation  is  not  far  to  seek — Henry  was  tired 
of  his  second  wife,  and  could  devise  no  means  of 
getting  rid  of  her,  though  he  had  already  chosen 
her  successor  in  Jane  Seymour — demure,  placid, 
and  false. 

Cromwell  stepped  into  the  breach,  and  in  his 
Machiavelian  way  suggested  a  means  of  compass- 
ing the  Queen's  downfall.  So  one  day  he  left 
Henry's  Council  Chamber  with  a  "signed  secret 
commission  authorising  certain  persons  named  and 
nine  judges  to  enquire  into  every  kind  of  treason 
and  to  try  the  offenders."  It  was  a  commission  to 
find  some  flaw  in  Anne's  conduct,  to  prove  her 
guilty  of  a  crime  worthy  of  death. 

Anne's  fatal  fascination,  her  overwhelming  love 
of  admiration,  which  was  readily  gratified  by  her 
many  friends,  gave  ample  scope  to  scandal-loving 
tongues,  only  too  eager  to  eclipse  the  waning  star. 
The  first  person  Cromwell  turned  upon  was  Anne's 
unfortunate  favourite  and  musician,  Mark  Smeaton, 


SUTTON  PLACE  313 

who  under  torture  made  terrible  statements  about 
the  Queen. 

Anne  was  shortly  arrested  and  taken  to  the 
Tower,  in  desperate  fear  and  trembling.  Hysterical 
with  horror,  she  talked  almost  incoherently  of  first 
one  and  then  another,  making  matters  go  from 
bad  to  worse.  Francis  Weston's  name  was  soon 
heard,  and  the  next  day  he  was  arrested  and  sent 
to  the  Tower. 

Anne  defended  herself  ably  and  well,  and  would 
have  been  acquitted  in  any  court  worthy  of  the 
name  of  justice. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  save  Francis  Weston, 
whose  family  was  powerful  and  rich,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  his  father  lifted  a  finger  to  avert 
the  sentence  passed  upon  his  only  son.  All 
remonstrance  was  useless :  Henry  determined  to 
spare  no  one.  Jane  Seymour  appeared  to  be  more 
within  his  grasp  at  each  step  that  Anne  took  towards 
the  block.  His  gross  heart  felt  no  pang  at  the  cruel 
execution  of  his  Queen  on  such  slight  evidence. 

The  letter  that  the  poor  boy,  Francis  Weston, 
wrote  to  his  young  wife  and  his  parents  is  very 
touching. 

"  Father  and  mother  and  wyfe,  I  shall  humbly 
desyre  you  for  the  salvacyon  of  my  sowle  to 
dyschardge  me  of  thys  byll,  and  for  to  forgyve  me 
of  all  the  offences  that  I  have  done  to  you.  And 
in  especyall  to  my  wyfe,  which  I  desyre  for  the 


314        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

love  of  God  to  forgive  me,  and  to  pray  for  me, 
for  I  believe  prayer  wyll  do  me  good.  Goddys 
blessing  have  my  chylderne  and  meyne.  By  me 
a  great  offender  to  God. 

"  Endorsed — detts  to  divers  by 

"  SR-  FRANCIS  WESTON." 

The  list  of  his  "  detts  "  at  the  end  of  the  letter 
are  interesting  in  many  ways.  Some  of  the  items 
are,  "  Browne,  the  draper,  ^50  "  ;  "  item  to  a  poor 
woman  at  the  Tennes  play  for  bawles,  I  cannot  tell 
howe  muche  ! — to  the  Kynges  Hyghness,  £4.6 " 
(equal  now  to  ^552) :  the  same  amount  he  owes 
to  the  shoemaker. 

All  the  victims  were  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 
None  confessed  their  guilt,  nor  did  they  protest 
their  innocence,  their  silence  being  the  price  paid 
to  avert  confiscation  of  property.  Thus  died 
Francis  Weston,  a  gay,  worthless,  light-hearted 
boy,  whose  life  paid  the  penalty  of  his  folly. 

The  old  veteran,  Sir  Richard  Weston,  bore  the 
execution  of  his  only  son  with  absolute  calmness, 
and  served  his  royal  master  none  the  less  well. 

Three  days  after  Queen  Anne's  execution,  Sir 
Richard  attended  the  King's  marriage  with  Jane 
Seymour.  And  this  "prudent  and  most  gentle 
knight"  welcomed  to  Sutton  Place,  Cromwell, 
who  more  than  any  one  brought  about  the  murder 
of  his  son.  Indeed,  a  case  of  "  other  times,  other 
manners."  But  the  old  man's  remaining  in  the 


SUTTON  PLACE  315 

service  of  the  King  under  the  circumstances  is 
almost  horrible.  Nothing  causes  him  to  swerve 
in  his  allegiance  ;  minister  after  minister  goes  to 
his  death,  but  the  old  knight  still  basks  in  Henry's 
favour,  and  nothing  but  old  age  causes  him  to 
resign  his  office.  He  died  in  1542,  leaving  every- 
thing to  his  little  grandson,  Henry  Weston.  He 
married  a  lady  who  was  a  cousin  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
Dorothy,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Arundell  of 
Wardour.  Her  family  have  an  extremely  in- 
teresting history,  being  allied  to  every  great  family 
in  England,  and  possessing  besides  the  awful  record 
of  fourteen  members  having  been  beheaded,  all 
near  relations  of  Dorothy's,  including  her  father! 

Queen  Elizabeth  paid  Sir  Henry  Weston  a 
visit  at  Sutton  Place  very  early  in  her  reign,  the 
first  of  many  subsequent  visits.  If  the  Queen's 
eventful  life  left  time  for  thoughts  of  the  past, 
she  must  have  recalled  the  tragic  fate  of  her 
host's  father  and  the  execution  of  her  mother, 
both  victims  of  her  relentless  father.  It  was 
during  Elizabeth's  first  visit  to  Sutton  that  a 
fire  broke  out  in  the  great  gallery,  through  neglect 
on  the  part  of  the  servants,  and  that  side  of  the 
house  was  reduced  to  ruins.  Sir  Henry  Weston 
gradually  ceased  to  hold  any  appointments  under 
Elizabeth,  though  he  always  retained  her  regard. 
As  a  staunch  Catholic  he  could  not  hold  office 
after  the  Reformation  was  firmly  established,  and 


316        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

from  that  time  the  Westons  ceased  to  play  any 
part  in  the  history  of  England.  Sir  Henry  did 
not  even  fight  for  the  Queen  in  1584,  though  his 
name  is  mentioned  as  a  captain,  and  it  is  stated 
that  "  Sir  Henry  Weston  having  great  occasion 
to  be  in  the  north  this  summer  desires  to  be  dis- 
charged as  captain."  It  is  almost  certain  from 
this  and  other  facts  that  Sir  Henry  was  a  secret 
supporter  of  the  old  faith.  In  1591  a  search  was 
made  at  Sutton  Place  for  one  Morgan,  a  priest ; 
and  Sir  Henry  was  ever  a  friend  of  that  dangerous 
rebel  and  traitor,  Sir  Thomas  Copley. 

The  next  Weston  of  any  interest  is  Sir  Henry's 
grandson,  the  third  Sir  Richard  ;  he  was  a  clever, 
capable  man,  who  passed  a  great  deal  of  his  life 
abroad,  living  much  in  Flanders.  While  on  the 
Continent  he  took  note  of  many  things  which  he 
rightly  considered  would  be  of  great  advantage  to 
his  countrymen  in  England.  Thus  he  introduced 
the  system  of  locks  in  canals,  determining  to 
put  the  invention  into  practice  on  his  own  estate, 
making  the  river  navigable  from  Guildford  to 
Weybridge.  Aubrey  says  of  him  :  "  That  worthy 
knight  Sir  Richard  Weston  conveyed  the  water 
from  Stoke  river  to  his  manor  of  Sutton,  whereby 
he  floated  6  score  acres  of  land,  which  before  was 
most  of  it  dry."  This  same  Sir  Richard  was  a 
great  agriculturist,  and  introduced  "  clover  and 
sainfoin  from  Brabant  and  Flanders,"  as  well  as 


SUTTON  PLACE  317 

turnips  in  1545.  The  value  of  the  latter  "cannot  be 
over-estimated."  Not  content  with  such  efforts  in 
farming,  he  wrote  a  most  interesting  and  uncommon 
book,  published  in  1645  by  Milton's  friend,  Samuel 
Hartlib,  under  the  name  of  "  Enlargement  of  the 
Discourse  of  Husbandry  used  in  Brabant  and 
Flanders — Sir  Richard  Weston's  Legacy  to  his 
Sons."  He  is  an  enthusiast,  and  declares  that  the 
growing  of  turnips  will  bring  in  an  enormous  profit. 
He  says:  "Regina  Pecunia"  ("  Monie  is  the  Queen 
that  commands  all "),  and  turnips  will  be  the  means 
of  gaining  it ! 

Though  Sir  Richard  kept  himself  clear  of  politics, 
he  was  arrested  for  holding  communications  with 
Cromwell's  enemies,  and  was  denounced  for  being 
a  Papist  and  a  recusant,  his  estates  being 
sequestered.  From  the  time  of  Sir  Richard 
Weston,  the  agriculturist,  till  to-day,  the  annals  of 
the  Weston  family  are  without  interest,  they  having 
devolved  simply  into  those  of  an  ordinary  county 
family. 

With  the  death  of  Melior  Mary,  the  daughter  of 
Mrs.  Weston— who  was  so  much  admired  by  Pope 
— the  last  of  the  race  passed  away.  For  though  she 
was  rich  and  considered  a  beauty,  she  remained 
unmarried,  and  left  the  property  and  beautiful 
old  house,  which  for  so  many  years  it  had  been 
her  joy  to  tend  and  care  for,  to  John  Webbe,  a 
descendant  of  her  aunt,  Frances  Weston. 


318        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

John  Webbe- Western  took  an  immense  interest 
in  the  estate,  and  made  many  changes,  fortunately 
not  all  he  intended.  He  had  the  old  gatehouse  and 
the  north  tower  and  wing  removed — a  proceeding 
that  George  III.  did  not  approve  of  at  all,  for  when 
he  was  shown  over  the  house,  after  returning  from 
a  stag-hunt,  he  said,  "  Very  bad,  very  bad  !  Tell 
Mr.  Weston  the  King  says  he  must  build  it  up 
again ! "  This  chance  visit  of  prosaic  King  George 
adds  yet  another  distinguished  name  to  the  many 
that  appear  in  the  memoirs  of  Sutton  Place. 


WREST    PARK,    BEDFORDSHIRE 


Fresh  shadows,  fit  to  shroud  from  sunny  ray ; 
Fair  Lawns,  to  take  the  sun,  in  season  due  ; 
Sweet  springs,  in  which  a  thousand  Nymphs  did  play ; 
Soft-rumbling  brooks,  that  gentle  slumber  drew  ; 
High-reared  mounts,  the  lands  about  to  view ; 
Low-looking  dales,  disloigned  from  common  gaze; 
Delightful  bowers,  to  solace  Lovers  true." 

EDMUND  SPENSER 


XVI 

WREST   PARK,    BEDFORDSHIRE 

'  I  "HERE  is  a  delicate  sense  of  magic  in  the 
•*•  beauty  of  the  Gardens  at  Wrest  Park,  a  magic 
that  comes  from  the  touch  of  a  master  hand,  for  the 
old  French  Gardens  at  Wrest  were  laid  out  by  no 
other  than  Le  Notre,  the  greatest  genius  in  the 
history  of  the  world's  Gardens.  Thus  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  courtly  charm  and  fascinating  grace 
of  the  great  Frenchman  peeps  out  on  every  side, 
regardless  of  the  continual  changes  Time  carries  on 
its  wings. 

Few  Gardens,  however,  remain  as  they  were 
originally  designed :  each  owner  in  turn  adds  and 
takes  away  from  them.  Sometimes  the  beauty  of 
variety  is  gained,  but  generally  the  first  great 
influence  rules  throughout  as  it  does  here,  and 
Le  Notre  speaks,  and  is  felt  in  much  that  never 
came  from  his  hand.  An  old  inscription  on  the 
"  Rustic  Column "  at  Wrest  mentions  many  of 
these  changes— changes  extending  even  to  the 

Y  381 


322        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

moving  of  the  column  itself — originally  placed  in 
view  of  the  "  Bath  House,"  but  moved  to  its 
present  position,  near  the  Chinese  Bridge,  by  the 
Countess  de  Grey,  in  1828.  The  inscription 
runs  thus  : — 

"  These  Gardens,  originally  laid  out  by  Henry, 
Duke  of  Kent,  were  altered  and  improved  by 
Philip,  Earl  of  Hardwicke,  and  Jemima,  Mar- 
chioness Grey,  with  the  professional  assistance 
of  Lancelot  Brown,  Esq.,  in  the  years  1758,  1759, 
1760-" 

The  old  house  was  built  between  1655  and  1695 
by  the  Countess  of  Kent,  commonly  called  "the 
good  Countess,"  and  altered  by  Philip,  Earl  of 
Hardwicke,  when  he  married  the  Marchioness 
Grey,  and  again  altered  by  her  in  1795. 

It  is  of  this  building  that  Horace  Walpole  writes 
in  such  condemnation  :  "  Wrest  and  Hawnes  are 
both  ugly  places  ;  the  house  at  the  former  is  ridi- 
culously old  and  bad."  Walpole's  taste  is  not  always 
to  be  trusted,  as  he  considered  the  Garden  at  Wrest 
"execrable  too,  but  is  something mended 'by  Brown," 
that  arch-spoiler  of  Formal  Gardens  ! 

The  present  house  was  begun  in  1834,  in  the 
French  style,  by  Lord  de  Grey,  who,  apparently 
thinking  the  old  house  too  unsatisfactory  to  alter 
or  improve  in  any  way,  designed  and  personally 
superintended  the  building  of  a  new  house,  changing 
the  site  by  moving  it  further  back.  An  interesting 


WREST  PARK  323 

book  of  sepia  drawings  of  the  house  is  to  be  found 
at  Wrest,  containing  a  plan  of  the  Garden  as  it  was 
about  1827  ;  also  a  long  account  in  manuscript — 
written  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  a  lady,  by  Lord 
Grantham,  afterwards  Lord  de  Grey — describing 
exactly  how  he  designed  and  built  the  present  house 
in  the  French  style,  taking  his  ideas  chiefly  from  an 
old  French  book  he  picked  up  for  sixty  francs  on 
one  of  the  quays  in  Paris,  and  in  which  he  found 
some  excellent  designs.  It  is  curious  that  the  only 
other  Garden  at  all  similar  to  the  beautiful  one  of 
Wrest  is  Melbourne,  also  partly  laid  out  by  Le 
Notre,  and  which  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
late  owner  of  Wrest,  Lord  Cowper,  through  his 
mother. 

Coming  out  on  the  wide  stone  terrace  of  Lord 
de  Grey's  new  French  house,  its  claim  to  the  name 
"  Little  Versailles "  is  very  evident.  For  there 
below  stretches  a  delightful  vista  of  Garden  after 
Garden — quite  a  French  motif,  laid  out  in  a  series 
of  patterns — and  then  in  the  distance  the  long  water 
with  its  broad  transepts,  which,  skirted  on  each  side 
by  magnificent  trees  and  high  Yew  hedges,  leads 
up  to  the  beautiful  old  Pavilion.  The  Pavilion  was 
erected  by  the  Duke  of  Kent  about  1710  from  a 
design  by  Archer,  a  favourite  pupil  of  Sir  John 
Vanbrugh,  the  famous  architect  of  Blenheim. 
Circular  in  shape,  built  of  brick  with  a  lead  dome, 
it  is  a  perfect  example  of  a  Garden  house  in  the 


324        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

English  Renaissance  style ;  these  houses  having 
first  been  built  by  Inigo  Jones  in  Charles  I.'s  reign. 

The  interior  is  decorated  with  columns  and 
cornices  of  the  Corinthian  order  in  chiaroscuro  or 
monochrome  by  a  French  artist  called  Handuroy, 
whose  name,  with  the  date  1712,  remained  quite 
clearly  written  till  lately,  when  the  plaster  became 
loose  from  damp  and  the  inscription  was  effaced. 

Just  in  front  of  this  Pavilion,  perfect  in  its  design 
and  proportion,  stands  a  Statue  of  William  of 
Orange,  afterwards  William  III.,  "of  glorious  and 
immortal  memory."  This  Statue  was  erected  by 
the  Duke  of  Kent  to  commemorate  William's 
landing  in  England,  the  Duke  being  one  of  his 
staunchest  partisans.  The  Statue  is  cast  in  lead — a 
very  favourite  material,  and  much  used  in  England 
for  Garden  statuary.  As  Lethaby  says,  "  What  is 
tame  in  stone,  contemptible  in  marble,  is  charming 
in  lead."  There  are  many  examples  of  lead  work 
at  Wrest,  among  them  two  urns  in  "the  Duke's 
Square,"  put  up  to  the  memory  of  Antony,  Earl 
of  Harrold,  and  Lady  Glenorchy,  the  eldest  son  and 
daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  who  both  died  before 
him.  Unfortunately  many  of  the  Statues  have 
disappeared ;  for  instance,  down  one  of  the  side 
walks  from  the  Pavilion — a  regular  tapis-verte — are 
the  stone  Arbours  in  old  days  called  "  My  Lady's 
Alcoves."  They  are  sometimes  called  the  "  Harle- 
quin Half  Houses,"  because  the  niches  once  held 


WREST  PARK  325 

Harlequins,    one    of   the   designs   most   frequently 
used  by  lead  sculptors. 

To  return  to  the  stone  terrace  of  the  house.  In 
front  of  it  lies  Lord  de  Grey's  new  French  Garden 
all  in  keeping  with  its  Statues  and  little  Box-edged 
borders,  that  were  designed  and  actually  planned 
out  by  him  with  tape  and  pins  on  the  ground. 
This  little  French  Garden  is  enclosed  by  an  iron 
railing  ;  on  the  right  of  it  lies  the  sweet-smelling 
Rosery,  in  the  grass  of  which  the  same  hand  planted 
Tree  Peonies,  now  seventy  years  old  and  considered 
to  be  some  of  the  finest  specimens  in  England.  In 
no  place  could  these  pink  Peonies  have  been 
planted  with  better  result  than  in  this  grass,  their 
colour  being  invaluable,  and  when  out  of  flower 
they  cause  no  disfigurement,  as  happens  in  a  border 
with  other  mixed  flowers.  There  is  always  a 
difficulty  in  deciding  the  arrangement  of  plants 
which  at  certain  times  of  the  year  are  of  no  value 
in  the  colour  scheme,  and  this  knowledge  can  be 
gained  by  studying  the  arrangement  followed  in 
large  Gardens,  for  as  a  rule  such  important  details 
are  carried  out  to  perfection.  The  Wistaria, 
trained  on  a  wall  near,  also  does  well,  as  the 
soil  is  light  and  warm  and  the  situation  sunny. 
These  two  plants,  the  pink  Peonies  and  the  pale 
mauve  Wistaria,  both  growing  so  luxuriantly,  are 
another  French  note,  as  few  Gardens  across  the 
water  are  without  these  favourites. 


326        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Among  the  many  trees  in  which  this  Garden 
abounds  (too  many  to  mention),  there  is  a  Judas 
tree,  a  very  fine  specimen,  and  being  an  old  tree,  it 
fully  shows  its  picturesque  growth.  It  is  trained 
over  the  wall  near  the  entrance  to  the  Kitchen 
Garden,  from  which  point  a  series  of  gateways  form 
a  delightful  vista. 

At  the  right  end  of  the  house  is  another  little 
Formal  Garden,  laid  out  geometrically,  with  stone- 
edged  borders,  also  of  Lord  de  Grey's  designing, 
being  particularly  arranged  to  make  a  pretty 
pattern  from  Lady  de  Grey's  boudoir  windows. 
Outside  the  railings  that  enclose  the  Gardens  a 
straight  path  runs  (bordered  on  each  side  with  cut 
Portugal  Laurel  trees  in  boxes),  as  far  as  the 
Fountain,  which  stands  on  the  site  of  the  old  house 
that  was  pulled  down  in  1830,  and  to  which  the 
older  Garden,  with  its  mysterious  Pools,  Yew 
hedges,  and  trees,  seems  more  specially  to  belong. 

In  front  of  the  old  house  stood  a  marble  Sundial, 
placed  there  by  Amabel,  Countess  of  Kent,  and  to 
this  day  it  remains  untouched.  It  is  a  refined  piece 
of  workmanship,  with  an  elaborate  copper  dial, 
giving  the  solar  time  for  different  parts  of  the 
world,  and  bears  the  date  1682.  Several  Latin 
inscriptions,  reminding  the  reader  of  the  flight  of 
time,  are  to  be  found  on  it,  and  the  arms  of  the 
Kent,  Crewe,  and  Lucas  families  appear  on  the 
gnomon  with  the  motto  "  Foy  est  Tout." 


WREST  PARK  327 

Wrest  has  been  the  property  of  the  De  Grey 
family  since  the  time  of  Roger  de  Grey,  who  lived 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  many  honours  and 
titles  have  been  bestowed  upon  them.  Edmund, 
Baron  Grey,  Lord  Treasurer  of  England,  was 
created  Earl  of  Kent  by  Edward  IV.  in  1465. 
The  ninth  Earl  married  Amabel,  called  "  the  good 
Countess,"  who  spent  so  many  years  of  her  widow- 
hood at  Wrest  improving  the  Gardens  that  she 
loved.  The  last  Earl  of  Kent  was  Henry,  born  in 
1671,  and  created  Duke  of  Kent  by  Queen  Anne. 
Having  no  son  to  succeed  him,  many  of  his .  titles 
passed  to  his  granddaughter,  who  married  Philip, 
son  of  the  celebrated  Earl  of  Hardwicke,  Lord 
High  Chancellor  of  England.  Horace  Walpole 
mentions  this  marriage  thus :  "  What  luck  the 
Chancellor  has !  marries  his  son  into  one  of  the 
first  families  of  Britain,  obtains  a  patent  for  a 
Marquisate  and  eight  thousand  pounds  a  year 
after  the  Duke  of  Kent's  death  ;  the  Duke  dies  in 
a  fortnight  and  leaves  them  all !  People  talk  of 
Fortune's  Wheel,  that  is  always  rolling!  troth,  my 
Lord  Hardwicke  has  overtaken  her  wheel  and 
rolled  along  with  it !  "  The  path  by  the  Fountain 
is  crossed  by  another  at  right  angles,  leading  on  the 
right  to  the  Orangery  and  the  Yew  hedge,  per- 
haps the  finest  in  existence,  and  over  350  years 
old,  thick  and  broad,  a  veritable  dense  mass  of 
green.  Another  of  these  beautiful  Yew  hedges 


328        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

partly  surrounds  the  little  Orchard  in  which  the 
Statue  of  Atlas  stands  in  the  centre  of  a  pool 
covered  with  Water  Lilies  and  encircled  by  pink 
Peonies. 

Of  the  Orange  trees  (put  out  on  the  path  near 
the  Orangery,  to  enjoy  the  summer  sunshine),  the 
finest  boast  a  history,  having  come  from  the 
Garden  of  Louis  Philippe,  who  sold  them  to  Lord 
de  Grey  when  the  latter  was  building  the  new 
Orangery.  Where  this  now  stands  (near  the  old 
Yew  hedge)  the  earlier  "  Greenhouse  "  stood,  built 
in  a  grotesque  fashion  by  the  Duke  of  Kent  from 
Lord  Burlington's  design ;  it  was  the  last  improve- 
ment he  carried  out.  Behind  the  Orangery,  which 
stands  high,  is  the  old  Roman  Bath  House,  on  to 
which  Lord  Hardwicke  built  a  Roman  temple,  the 
architect  being  Sir  William  Chambers.  This 
temple  is  now  thickly  covered  with  Ivy. 

The  beautiful  old  Sundial  marks  the  beginning 
of  the  older  Garden  designed  by  Le  Notre,  that 
great  Gardener  who  must  indeed  have  been  an 
exceptional  man  to  have  earned  in  the  corrupt  Court 
of  the  Grand  Monarch  such  an  appreciation  as 
that  written  by  that  greatest  of  gossips,  St.  Simon. 
"He  was  illustrious  as  having  been  the  first 
designer  of  those  beautiful  Gardens  which  adorn 
France,  and  which  indeed  have  so  surpassed  the 
Gardens  of  Italy  that  most  famous  masters  of  that 
country  come  here  to  admire  and  learn.  .  .  . 


WREST  PARK  329 

"  Le  Notre  had  a  probity  and  exactitude  and  an 
uprightness  which  made  him  esteemed  and  loved 
by  everybody.  He  worked  for  private  people  as 
for  the  King,  and  with  the  same  application,  and 
seeking  only  to  aid  Nature  and  to  attain  the 
beautiful  by  the  shortest  road. 

"All  he  did  is  still  much  superior  to  everything 
that  has  been  done  since,  whatever  care  may  have 
been  taken  to  imitate  and  follow  him  as  closely  as 
possible." 

Andre  le  N6tre  was  educated  to  be  an  architect 
(some  say  a  painter),  and  this  early  training  is  often 
revealed  in  his  effects,  and  may  have  given  him 
his  first  ideas  as  to  the  architectural  treatment  of 
Gardens,  a  treatment  which  well  entitles  him  to 
be  described  as  an  Architect  of  Gardens. 

For  Madame  de  Maintenon,  Le  Notre  worked 
marvels  in  her  Convent  Garden  at  Noisy-le-Roi, 
and  created  among  other  things  a  canal  out  of  a 
dirty  ditch. 

He  soon  gained  the  notice  of  Louis  XIV.,  who, 
ever  ready  to  employ  a  genius  willing  to  create 
novelties  for  his  amusement  and  pleasure,  made 
him  Comptroller-General  of  Buildings  and  Gardens, 
and  Le  Notre,  till  his  death,  remained  a  favourite 
of  the  King's. 

Perhaps  no  man  has  been  more  abused  or 
admired  than  Le  Notre.  His  designs  are  perfect  in 
their  proportion  and  magnificent  in  execution ;  it 


330        A   BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

is  only  in  the  hands  of  his  imitators  that  a  flaw  in 
his  style  can  be  detected. 

Versailles  was  his  masterpiece ;  a  very  different 
Versailles  from  that  of  to-day.  Only  to  look  at  a 
picture  of  its  marvels,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV.,  is  to  be  bewildered  by  the  vastness 
of  its  size,  the  perfection  of  its  design,  and  the 
elaborateness  of  its  details. 

This  wonderful  man,  Le  Notre,  appears  to  have 
planned  his  designs  to  suit  the  taste  of  the 
Court  who  loved  to  masquerade  as  shepherds 
and  shepherdesses — the  originals  of  Watteau  and 
Lancret's  exquisite  pictures.  Desiring  "  their 
houses  to  extend  into  their  Gardens,"  Le  Notre 
made  them  architectural  and  formal,  a  proper  back- 
ground for  his  fascinating  artificial  patrons. 

As  yet  Rousseau's  blast  in  the  cause  of  Nature 
had  not  swept  across  France,  influencing  indirectly 
the  whole  of  Europe. 

Charles  II.  invited  both  Le  Notre  and  Perrault 
to  England.  The  latter  declined  the  invitation,  and 
it  is  still  uncertain  whether  Le  Notre  came  or  not, 
but  that  he  designed  Gardens  in  England  there  is 
no  doubt,  especially  Melbourne  and  Wrest,  and 
that  his  influence  was  greatly  felt  in  this  country. 
Among  the  many  delightful  features  of  the  older 
Garden  is  a  Berceau  (or  Pleached  alley),  the 
twisted  boughs  of  the  Lime  trees  making  a  regular 
leafy  canopy  overhead.  The  Berceau  is  called 


WREST  PARK  331 

"  The  Lover's  Walk,"  and  at  the  end  of  it,  to  greet 
the  lovers  who  may  walk  there,  stands  a  little 
stone  Amorini. 

Another  interesting  feature  is  the  Bowling  Green 
and  the  Bowling  Green  House  ;  the  latter  designed 
by  that  great  connoisseur,  Lord  Burlington,  though 
the  exact  date  of  its  erection  is  uncertain.  It  is 
to  be  noticed  in  an  old  plan  of  1735.  A  character- 
istic example  of  Queen  Anne  work,  it  is  quite 
worthy  of  its  designer  whose  name  at  that  time  was 
frequently  associated  with  the  arts.  The  Portico  is 
handsome  but  simple  in  treatment,  with  six  well- 
proportioned  pillars  ;  inside  there  is  a  fine  banquet- 
ing room  with  an  old  chimney-piece  supposed  to 
date  back  to  1570.  The  west  front  of  the  Bowling 
Green  House  overlooks  the  canal  and  the  old  Park, 
which  till  the  Duke  of  Kent's  time  was  the  old 
deer  Park.  There  was  another  Garden  house  at 
Wrest,  of  the  same  date — a  temple  of  Diana — but 
it  was  pulled  down  when  the  old  house  was 
rebuilt. 

Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  Wrest  is  a  Garden 
without  flowers,  but  there  is  an  enchantment  about 
the  beauty  of  the  green  depth  of  this  magical 
Garden  of  Statues,  clipped  Hedges,  and  Pools  that 
is  never  felt  in  any  bright  Flower  Garden,  however 
laden  with  scent  or  gorgeous  with  colour. 

The  beauties  and  charms  of  Wrest  would 
be  difficult  to  imitate,  especially  on  a  small 


332        A  BOOK  OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

scale,  as  it  is  a  Garden  in  which  the  design 
dominates  and  the  beauty  of  flowers  is  practically 
out  of  place.  There  are  many  lessons  to  be  learnt 
within  its  green  Alleys,  chiefly  the  power  of  propor- 
tion, the  value  of  masses  of  green,  and  that  flowers 
are  in  reality  only  an  addition,  not  a  necessity,  to 
this  type  of  Garden.  This  beauty  of  proportion 
is  a  legacy  from  the  genius  of  the  original  designer ; 
and  obliterated  as  it  is  in  many  places  by  the  lapse 
of  years,  it  is  still  felt  in  the  same  way  as  in  a 
beautiful  old  building. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  clever  artist  could 
introduce  flowers,  carefully  chosen,  into  some  parts 
of  the  Garden  if  desired,  but  the  whole  is  so  perfect 
that  a  false  note  would  sound  more  discordant  at 
Wrest  than  in  other  Gardens. 

The  climax  of  charm  is  reached  in  the  Wilderness 
at  Wrest,  so  full  of  mystery,  with  its  little  intersecting 
grass  paths,  hedges  of  cut  Yew,  Laurel  or  Box,  and 
tal)  trees,  below  which  in  Spring  is  spread  a  carpet 
of  Primroses.  Hidden  in  the  depths  of  these 
Bosquets  are  many  Altars,  Rustic  Columns,  and 
Statues  in  memory  of  people  who  have  lived,  loved, 
and  walked  in  these  Gardens,  the  owners  of  Wrest 
possessing  the  rare  gift  of  remembrance.  Some  of 
these  are  of  too  great  interest  to  be  ignored — 
among  them  the  altar  erected  by  Lord  Hardwicke 
to  commemorate  the  completion  of  "  The  Athenian 
Letters,"  a  book  written  by  him  and  some  of  his 


WREST  PARK  333 

friends.  The  altar  bears  on  one  side  an  inscription 
written  in  Greek  by  Daniel  Wray,  one  of  the  joint 
authors,  and  on  the  other  a  Persian  quotation. 

Another  monument  (put  up  by  the  Duke  of  Kent 
to  his  friend  Thomas  Hutton,  whose  society  he 
had  often  enjoyed  among  the  delightful  surroundings 
of  Wrest)  is  almost  hidden  by  huge  Yews. 

Even  the  dogs  are  not  forgotten,  and  a  statue 
in  Portland  stone,  called  "the  Dog  Monument," 
was  put  up  by  Lord  de  Grey  in  remembrance  of 
many  faithful  dog  friends  who  lie  buried  in  this 
cemetery. 

Outside  the  Wilderness,  encircling  the  grounds,  is 
a  large  canal,  fed  by  a  stream  springing  near  the 
old  Bath  House.  It  is  in  this  canal  (altered  and 
enlarged  for  Lord  Hardwicke  and  Lady  Grey,  in 
1760,  by  Lancelot  Brown)  that  the  natural  school 
of  Gardening  steps  into  the  arrangement  of  this 
wonderfully  blended  Garden. 

From  Le  Notre  to  "Capability  Brown" — as  he 
was  nicknamed — is  not  such  a  big  step  as  it 
appears,  for  the  ruthless  changes  introduced  by  the 
landscape  school  came  in  gradually  at  first,  leaving 
Wrest  only  touched  with  a  fresh  charm.  Later, 
running  riot  with  a  madness  quite  equal  to  all 
Pope  and  Addison  denounced  as  "  formalities  and 
whimsicalities,"  "Capability"  could  never  resist 
planning,  or  re-planning,  a  piece  of  water ; 
therefore  out  of  the  canal  was  twisted  "  the 


334        A  BOOK   OF  ENGLISH  GARDENS 

Serpentine  River."  Fortunately  for  the  present 
generation,  Brown  did  not  tamper  with  other  parts 
of  the  Garden,  nor  with  the  formal  ponds  that 
give  such  a  delicious  feeling  of  old-worldness  to 
Wrest. 

One  of  these,  a  beautiful  long-shaped  pool,  almost 
classical  in  the  severity  of  its  treatment,  is  called 
"  the  Lady's  Canal,"  or  "the  Lily  Pool  " ;  it  is  shut 
in  with  high  Yew  hedges  (cut  in  a  fashion  started  in 
Queen  Anne's  reign,  the  lower  part  clipped  close 
and  the  top  allowed  to  grow  quite  feathery),  and 
against  it,  at  the  end  of  the  pond,  is  a  small  statue 
of  a  Greek  goddess,  with  tall  trees  standing  like 
sentinels  behind ;  all  round  the  water  is  a  wide 
grass  verge,  sprinkled  with  little  white  Daisies  in 
the  springtime,  while  later  in  the  year  the  Lily 
leaves  begin  to  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  water, 
covering  it  with  a  carpet  of  shining  leaves. 

It  is  all  so  quiet,  this  green  solitude,  that  fancy 
repeoples  it  with  the  men  and  women  who  took 
such  pride  and  pleasure  in  planning  and  making 
this  Garden,  and  who  must  have  had  great  powers 
of  imagination  to  plant  by  faith,  realising,  as  if 
in  a  mirror,  how  beautiful  it  would  be  for  the 
generations  yet  to  come. 

In  a  circular  space  amidst  the  trees  near  "the 
Lady's  Canal "  are  the  antique  altars  (supposed  to 
be  genuine),  placed  there  by  Lady  de  Grey  in  1817. 
The  ornamentation,  of  flowers  and  the  usual  rams' 


LILY    POOL,   WREST 


WREST  PARK  335 

heads,  is  worked  into  wreaths,  and  there  is  a  Greek 
inscription  on  the  centre  one. 

The  Chinese  Bridge,  which  was  originally  made 
of  wood  (replaced  twice  before  the  present  stone 
one  was  built),  crosses  the  Serpentine  River  not 
far  from  the  imitation  Chinese  Temple,  designed  by 
Sir  William  Chambers,  and  built  by  Lord  Hard- 
wicke  close  to  the  water's  edge.  The  wood  painted 
in  strips  gives  a  strange  touch  of  colour  in  this 
sombre,  subdued  spot.  For  verily  the  spell  of 
enchantment  lies  in  this  Garden,  with  its  Groves, 
Statues,  and  Ponds ;  in  every  green  shadow  lurks 
a  laughing  nymph,  and  dryads  rise  at  every  turn 
from  out  the  many  pools,  for  Pan's  pipe  most  surely 
sounds  at  nightfall  and  fairies  dance  on  the  grass 
paths  in  the  moonlight. 


INDEX 


ABBOTSBURY,  47 

Addison,  Joseph,  29,  32,  226 

Albury,  59 

Alford,  Lady  Maria,  91 

Alleys,  6 

Amorini,  140,  331 

Ampthill  Park,  71 

Anne,  Queen,  27 

Arbours,  14,  24 

„      at  Abbotsbury,  54 

„      at  Holland  House,  238 

„      at  Sutton  Place,  299 

Arcades,  92 

Armillary  Sphere  at  Ashridge,  94 
„  „     atHollandHouse, 

237 

Ashmolean  Museum,  210 

Ashridge,  88 

Aubrey,  John,  63,  309 

Avenues,  24 

„       at  Ampthill  Park,  73 
„       at  Hatfield  House,  209 
„       at  Holland  House,  231 
„       at  Wrest  Park,  25 

BABYLON,  Hanging  Garden  of,  4 
Bacon,  17,  41,  91 
Badeslade,  274 
Banqueting  Houses,  22 
Barrington,  Lord,  119 


Basse  Court,  76 

Bath  House,  66 

Beckett,  119 

Bede,  52 

Berceaux,  330 

Bilton,  Addison's  Garden  at,  228 

Blenheim,  36,  323 

Boccacio,  173 

Boleyn,  Anne,  74,  311 

Bonhoinmes,  Ashridge,  99 

Bosquet,  332 

Botanical  Gardens,  19 

Bowling  Greens  at  Ham,  189 

„      at  Hatfield  House, 

211 

„  „      at  Holland  House, 

223 

„  „      at  Knole,  274 

„  „      at  Wrest,  331 

Bowling  Green  House,  331 

Box  Edging,  27,  246 

Bridgman,  32,  33,  188 

Bridgewater,  Duke  of,  no 

Britannia  Illustrata,  28,  273 

Brown,  L.,  35,  273,  278,  322,  333 

Browne,  Sir  T.,  7 

Brownlow,  Lord,  91 

Brownsea  Island,  137 

Burton,  Robert,  214 

Burleigh,  Lord,  208 


INDEX 


337 


Burlington,  Lord,  33,  331 
Burnett,  Bishop,  178 


CAMDEN,  147 
Canute,  50 
"Capability  Brown,"  35  -273,  278 
322,  333 

Casinos,  119 

Cavendish,  15 

Cecil,  Sir  R,  150,  207 

Chambers,  Sir  W.,  38 

Charles  I.,  22 

Charles  II.,  24 

Charing,  Garden  at,  n 

Chaucer,  12,  100 

China  House,  119 

Chinese  Bridge,  335 

Chinese  Mode,  26 

"  Clair-voyees,"  28 

Claude,  34 

Clover,  316 

Cobbett,  William,  66 

Columbarium,     or     Dovecote,     at 

Hutton  John,  247 
"Comus,"  108 

"  Compleat  Gardener,  The,"  22 
Cottage  Gardens,  157 
Cowper,  W.,  37,  141 
Cranmer,  T.,  78,  263 
Cromwell,  O.,  181 
Croome,  35 
Crypta,  62 

DAHLIAS,  238 

Defoe,  191,  278 

Dell  at  Hatfield,  213 

Deptford,  Evelyn's  Garden  at,  23 

D'Este,  Cardinal,  15 

Donne,  214 

Dutch  Garden  at  Holland  House, 

237 
z 


Dutch  Garden  at  Hutton  John,  246 
Dutch  Style,  27 
Dysart,  Countess  of,  181 

EGERTON,  Sir  T.,  107 
Egyptian  Gardens,  4 
Elizabethan  Gardens,  19 
Elizabeth,  Queen,   102,  146,  200, 

3i5 

Erasmus,  262 
Evelyn,  John,  15,  22,  26,  59,  64, 

184,  246 

FIENNES,  Celia,  28,  151 
Finch,  H.,  67 
Fishponds,  51 
Fisherwick,  35 
Fishing  Lodge,  22,  119 
Flowers,  7 

at  Abbotsbury,  48,  49,  55 
„       at  Brownsea  Island,  138 
„       in  Cottage  Gardens,  172 
„       at  Holland  House,  234 
„       in  Modern  Garden,  289 
Formal  Gardens,  41,  326 
•ormal  Style,  16,  24 
Fountains,  6,  15, 24 

„          at  Albury,  62 

„          at  Ampthill  Park,  73 

„          at  Ashridge,  92 

„          at  Brownsea  Island,  139 

,,          at  Hatfield  House,  213, 

215 
at  Holland  House,  237, 

240 

„          at  Nonsuch,  15 
„         at  Sutton  Place,  302 
\>x,  Charles,  236 
Yench  Garden,  325 
„      Style,  24,  329 
uchsia,  168,  250 


338 


INDEX 


Galleries,  14 
Garden  Buildings,  22 
"  Gardens  of  Cyrus,"  7 
Garden  House,  Beckett,  119 
Gardener,  John,  12 
Gerade,  141,  208 
Germaine,  Lady  B.,  279 
Gilpin,  W.,  37 
"  Gorboduc,"  265 
Gray,  T.,  40 
Greek  Garden,  5 
Grotto  at  Ashridge,  97 

„     at  Twickenham,  32 
"Guardian,"  30 
Gunning,  112 
Gwyn,  Nell,  269 

Ha-ha,  33 

„      at  Ham  House,  188 
Ham  House,  178 
Hamilton,  C.,  35,  230 
Hampton  Court,  14,  25,  27 
Harrison,  F.,  308 
Hartlib,  S.,  317 
Hatfield  House,  198 
Hatton,  Sir  C.,  146 
Hentzner,  P.,  16,  20 
Herbals,  18 
Herbert,  G.,  214 
Herb  Garden,  95 
Hill,  T.,  10 
Holland  House,  222 
Holland,  Lord,  229 
Holbourne,  Garden  in,  n 
Holly  Hedge,  298 
Hutton,  John,  244 

"  ICHNOGRAPHIA  RUSTICA,"  32 

Ilchester,  Earl  of,  233 
Irregular  Gardens,  40 


Italian  Garden  at  Ashridge,  93 
„  „        at  Holland  House, 

235 

JAMES  I.  of  Scotland,  12 

James  I.,  22,  127 

Japanese Gardenat  Holland  House, 

233 

Jennings,  Montague,  210 
Joan,  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,  305 
Johnson,  S.,  260 
Jonson,  B.,  126,  128 
Jones,  Inigo,  22,  120,  123,  224 

KATHERINE  of  Arragon,  71 
Kent,  William,  33,  273 
"  King's  Quhair,"  13 
Kip,  John,  28,  273 
Knight,  R.  P.,  37 
Knole,  259 
Knots,  25,  91 
Knyff ,  273 

Labyrinth,  10 

Landscape  Style,  36 

Landscape  Gardens,  Essay  on,  41 

Langley,  Batty,  33 

Lauderdale,  Duke  of,  183 

Lavender  Garden  at  Ashridge,  94 
„  „        at  Knole,  277 

„        Hedges  at  Brownsea,  143 

Lawson,  W.,  21,  211,  274 

Lead  Statues,  324 

Leasowes,  36 

Leland,  14,  75 

Ligne,  Prince  de,  174 

London,  George,  26,  29 

Loo,  Garden  at,  27 

Loudon,  40 

Luttrell,  77 

Lydgate,  n 


INDEX 


339 


MANDELSLO,  20 
Mansard,  24 
Marvel,  A.,  97 
Mason,  G.,  40 
Masques,  125,  266 
Matius,  7 
Maze,  10 

„     at  Hatfield,  212 
Mediaval  Gardens,  13 
Midwinter,  273 
Milton,  41 

Modern  Garden,  A,  287 
"  Modern  Gardening,"  Essay  on,  32 
"  Modern    Gardening,"    Observa- 
tions on,  40 

Monastic  Gardens,  9,  51,  90 
Montaigne,  15 
Moor  Park,  26 
Mortier,  273 

Morton,  Archbishop,  202 
Mounts,  6,  12,  20,  275 
Mulberry  Trees,  203 

NATIONAL  English  Style,  40 
Neckam,  A.,  9 
Nero,  Gardens  of,  6 
Nonsuch,  Garden  of,  16 
Norden,  104 
Northcliffe,  Lord,  298 
Northumberland's,   Earl  of,  Gar- 
den, 14 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  60 
Notre,  A.  Le,  24,  25,  186,  321,  328 

OLIVES,  8 

Orangery  at  Ham,  186 

at  Holland  House,  236 
Ossory,  Countess  of,  79,  81 
Overton,  273 

PAIN'S  Hill,  35 


Parkinson,  John,  19,  48,  94,  166 
Parterre,  25,  133 
Pavilion  at  Hatfield,  212 

„       at  Wrest,  323 
Pepys,  S.,  209,  217 
Pergola  at  Ashridge,  92 

„       at  Brownsea  Island,  143 
at  Hatfield,  212 

„       at  Knole,  282 

„       at  Sutton  Place,  298 
Perrault,  24 
Persian  Gardens,  5 
Physic  Gardens  at  Chelsea,  23 

„  „         at  Holborn,  19 

„        at  Westminster^ 
Pineapples,  186 
Pleached  Alley,  202,  330 
Pleasance,  12,  246 
Pliny,  Garden  of,  5 
Plowman,  Piers,  n 
Pope,  A.,  30,  32,  34 
Pol-Pourri,  280 
Poussin,  34 
Price,  Sir  U.,  39,  88 
Privy  Garden,  12,  201 

Quincunx,  7 
Quintinye,  de  la,  65 

Raalte,  C.  Van,  139 

Rapin,  Rene,  22 

Repton,  H.,  38,  88 

Rich,  H.,  Earl  of  Holland,  223 

Richmond,  Countess  of,  305 

Rock  Gardens,  291 

„          „        at  Abbotsbury,  54 

atHollandHouse,232 

„          „        at  Hutton  John,  251 
Roman  Gardens,  5 
"  Romance  of  the  Rose,"  12 
Rose,  John,  25,  186 


340 


INDEX 


Rosary  at  Ashridge,  92 

„      at  Brownsea  Island,  140 
„      at  Hatfield  House,  204 
„      at  Sutton  Place,  302 

Rousham,  35 

Rousseau,  36 

SACKVILLE,  Thomas,  265 
Sackville,  Charles,  268 
Saint-Simon,  328 
Schools  of  Gardening,  33 
Scott,  Sir  W.,  41 
Sentimental  Garden  Style,  37 
Serpentine  River,  333 
Shakespear,  18 
Shenstone,  36 
Sidney,  Sir  P.,  17 
Solomon,  4 
"  Spectator,"  30,  227 
Spenser,  12,  18 
Special  Gardens,  289 
Statues,  15,  24,  187,  324 
Stowe,  35 
Sturtivant,  S.,  215 
Summerhouses,  6,  119 
Sundials,  140,  326 
Sunk  Gardens  at  Hatfield,  212 

„  „        at  Knole,  277 

Sutton  Place,  297 
Switzer,  S.,  28,  32 

TARQUINIUS     Superbus,     Garden 

of,  5 

Tea-houses,  22, 119 
Temple,  Sir  W.,  26 
Terraces,  6,  24,  51 
„        at  Albury,  61 


Terraces,  at  Beckett,  133 

„        at  Brownsea  Island,  141 

at  Ham,  189 

Theobalds,  Garden  of,  20,  207 
Thorp,  T.,  19,  209 
Topiary  Work,  7,  31 
Tradescant,  7,  21,  210 
Tudor  Gardens,  14 
Tulip  Trees,  186 
Turner,  W.,  19 
Turnips,  317 
Tusser,  T.,  17, 167 

VANBRUGH,  Sir  J.,  322 
Vavasor,  Sir  J.,  179 
Vineyards,  8,  52,  63,  198,  215 

Walls  in  Gardens,  298 
Walled  Gardens,  276,  298,  301 
Walpole,  H.,  6, 32,40, 187, 192, 260, 

278,  322 

Water  Garden,  302 
Weston,  Francis,  310 
Weston,  Sir  R.,  307 
Whateley,  T.,  40 
Wild  Garden,  56,  291,  302 
Wilderness,  132,  278,  332 
Winter  Garden,  55 
Wise,  H.,  29 
Woolaton,  187 
Wotton,  Sir  H.,  17 
Wrest  Park,  25,  321 

XENOPHON,  5 
YEWS,  64,  66,  249 


CNWIN  BROTHERS,  LIMITED,  THE  GRESHAM  PRESS,  WOKING  AND  LONDON 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 
Architecture  &  Urban  Planning  Library,  825-2747. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


H 


APR  04  1991 

APR  2  2  1991 
REC'D  AUPL 
MAY  1  2  1991 
MAY  1 1  1991 

"UPt 


PSD  2339  9/77 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILI1 


001  224198    o 


